Slayer and Soul Reaper
by CeridwenAeradwer
Summary: Buffy Summers the vampire slayer has near-death experiences on a daily basis. After a while, she gains the ability to see ghosts, Hollows, and Soul Reapers. When she meets the Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki, she finds herself no longer with one ridiculously dangerous job, but two.
1. The Soul Reaper

**Hello all! Thank you for taking the time to read my Fanfiction of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Bleach.**

 **Just a quick intro; This story will be taking Buffy and putting her into the story of bleach. I'm afraid Ichigo Kurosaki and his classmates will not be featuring in this story, their places will be filled by the scooby gang. I plan for Buffy to take much the same path as Ichigo as the story goes on, although I may change around some events to make it more interesting (and hopefully keep it consistent with the BTVS universe as well).  
** **I have not planned for any pairings or romances yet. If you have any preferences, let me know and I'll take them into consideration (but no promises, I'm afraid. Wee'll see how it goes.)**

 **Enjoy, please leave a review telling me what you think!**

Chapter 1: The Soul Reaper

"... which is why the crossbow is the far more... Buffy? Buffy are you listening?"

Upon hearing her name, Buffy Summers sat bolt upright.

"Uh- Yes! Yeah! Of course. That's me! Attention girl!"

Giles sighed with exasperation. "Is that so? The facts that your eyes were closed and you were snoring seemed to suggest otherwise."

Buffy looked affronted. "Hey, I wasn't snoring! I wasn't even asleep, I was... dozing."

"Rather noisily, I might add."

Buffy opened her mouth for an angry retort, but before she could do so the door opened and a familiar figure bounced happily into the room.

Willow smiled cheerfully. "Hey guys! Everything going well?"

A slight frown appeared on Giles' face. "Ah, yes! Swimmingly. Buffy appears _very_ well rested. I expect, therefore, she would be happy to spend the evening on patrol."

"Aw, Giles..." Buffy moaned. "No. We agreed not tonight. Please?"

"We also agreed you would focus on your studies, but, alas, no such luck."

"Oh, but, but... The Bronze?"

"Interesting that you managed to mispronounce 'homework' so badly."

"Aw..."

Willow sidled up to Buffy. "Come on, Buff, It's not so bad. Hey, I'll come too! I could do with honing my own slayage skills."

Buffy smiled, grateful for the attempt to cheer her up. "Na, don't worry about it. You and Xand can go dancing without me, it's fine. Besides, don't you have homework of your own to do?"

"Just a little."

Willow glanced sideways at Giles, who had since turned and walked off to a different section of the library. She lowered her voice.  
"Doesn't seem like you'll have much time yourself. Want me to do your history assignment?"

Buffy's eyes shone with relief.  
"You would do that? Really? I mean, I don't want to be that person who gets other people to do her homework..."

"Hey. You've already got a full time job saving the world every other week, it's the least I can do. Besides, it might help keep Snyder off your case for a bit."

Buffy grinned and threw her arms around Willow. "You're a lifesaver. I promise I'll make it up to you."

Just then, the door opened a second time and Xander strolled in, bag slung over his shoulder.  
"All right! School's out for the weekend, and now's the time for party! Race ya to the bronze!"

Buffy smiled sadly. "Sorry Xand. Some last minute slayage has just come up. Looks like you two will have to do without me this evening."

Xander stopped in his tracks with exaggerated shock. "What? What about our pre weekend dance party?"

"I should be free tomorrow, how about I come down with you guys then?"

"Ooh! Oz's band is playing tomorrow."

Xander shook his head. "But that won't be pre weekend party, that's a mid weekend party. It's a very important distinction!"

"Nothing I can do about it." Buffy picked up her bag from the corner of the room, and headed towards the door.  
"I should go home and get ready. You know, sharpen stakes, gather crucifixes, raid churches for holy water. Well. Maybe not that last one. I'll see you guys later."

Later that evening, Buffy was trudging around the Sunnydale graveyard. The sun had only just set.  
Plonking herself down on a gravestone, Buffy sighed. This was the boring part. The waiting around. It sometimes took hours for a vampire to rise, time she had to spend doing... nothing. She groaned. There had to be an easier way to get them to rise so she could just go home and get some sleep for once. Maybe she could ask Willow or Giles about the possibility.

"Buffy." Said a familiar voice. Buffy turned, and saw Angel standing a few feet away.

"Hey," She said, "I didn't know you were going to be here."

"I wasn't. I went to the bronze to check on you, but Willow told me that you had to patrol. I just came to see if you needed any help."

"Oh. Just that? Help?" She smiled weakly.

Angel glanced away awkwardly. It wasn't just that, but neither of them dared to admit the real reason. It was too hard.

A growling from nearby jolted them from their conversation.

"Wow, already?" Buffy muttered. "Impatient little demons."

Three vampires rounded the side of a crypt, and charged towards them. Buffy sprang to her feet and lashed out at the closest one as the approached. As they tried to surround her, Angel ran forwards and tackled one to the ground.  
Buffy was easily overcoming her opponents, delivering powerful strikes and ducking out of reach in a smooth rhythm. Drawing a stake from her jacket, she shoved one of the vampires backwards, whirled around, and stabbed him in one clean motion. As he disintegrated, she turned to finish off the other one. She was just about to strike when she realised, to her horror, he had a knife in his hand. Momentum carrying her through, Buffy awkwardly twisted out of the way as the knife went slicing a hair's breadth from her neck. Adrenaline surged through her blood. Buffy's instincts taking over for a second while her mind panicked, she caught the creature's arm and delivered a staggering blow to the head. The creature dropped the knife as it fell backwards, snarling. Recovering quickly, it scrambled to it's feet and, deciding it was outmatched, turned and fled. Seeing Buffy hesitate, Angel, who had just finished off the other one, ran after it.

"Stay here, I'll take care of it."

Buffy watched them slowly dissappear from sight. Panting, she sat down and lifted a hand to her neck.

"That was too close." She mumbled. She had let her guard down. That vampire had been nothing special, she had let him surprise her. It was a very sobering realisation that no matter how good she was, if she relaxed or got too cocky, it could well be the end for her.

A roar reached her ears, but this wasn't the sound of a vampire or even a demon. Demons sounded angry, whereas this.. all she could hear was hunger. A chill ran up Buffy's spine; she had never heard anything like this before. It was animalistic, void of emotion and driven purely by instinct. The sound seemed to echo around the empty graveyard.  
She turned her head to follow the sound of the roar. It was coming from the far side of the graveyard, in the opposite direction that Angel had run to.  
The roar sounded a second time. She hesitated, but only for a second, before running over.  
As she ran, something odd seemed to occur. Every now and again out of the corner of her eye she'd catch sight of someone, different people each whenever she turned to look at them, they'd vanish. After the first three times, she'd had enough. She stopped running and, clutching a stake firmly to her chest, stopped to look around.

..For a while, nothing happened...

 _There!_ A flash of red. Small, muddy shoes trampling the earth. Flailing arms. A child.  
Buffy whipped her head around. For a moment, she could see him clearly. A little boy in a bright red coat, tears steaming down his face, running for his life.

"Hang on, wait-!"

He faded from sight.

Buffy took a step back. _What the hell? What am I seeing?  
_ Then, much louder this time, the creature roared again. Buffy turned in the direction the child had run from, her heart beating furiously. Was it invisible? It sounded as if it were right next to her!  
 _Wait... what's that?_

The air in front of her was blurred. It wasn't her vision that was the problem, it was the air. If she paid attention, she could see the blurred space made out the outline of a shape, something like a giant primate. It looked like it was about to -  
Buffy flung herself out of the way just in time. A split second later, a large crater appeared in the ground where she had been stood with an ear - splitting crash. Buffy staggered back, her eyes straining to see her assailant, but it was too hard in the heat of battle. More angry than scared, she turned and ran. Trying to fend off invisible girl Marcie had been hard enough, but this guy was big, strong, and deadly. She was at a very large disadvantage.

As she ran, she turned and looked over her shoulder. The blurry outline was still there. In fact, it was becoming rapidly clearer. As Buffy watched, the creature slowly faded from transparent, to translucent. She could see the colours now. A large, purple-grey body and a bone white head. She stopped running. As luck would have it, she could now, somehow, see it clearly enough to fight. Even if she had no idea where to begin with a creature of this size.  
It swung another fist at her, which she dodged. With a jolt she realised it hadn't been trying to hit her; it had been trying to grab her. As she danced around it she became more and more certain that it wasn't trying to kill her. At least, not right away.  
The creature was now completely opaque. It was large and muscular, at least a storey high in hight. For a head, it had what seemed to be a skull like mask, and when it's mouth opened it revealed two sets of teeth instead of one. But, perhaps the most intriguing thing of all was the perfectly circular hole where it's heart should be.  
 _So much for staking,_ Buffy thought grimly. The monster swung at her again. She dodged the grasping fingers, but instead swung up onto the arm and, in a real test of her balance, ran up it. As she neared the head she wondered for the first time what she actually planned to do. Stick it in the face with a stake? Well... maybe. She wondered if a stake would be strong enough to do the job. Too late to think of anything else now. It would have to do.  
She landed lightly on the shoulder. Bracing herself, she swung with all her might, driving the stake, point first, into the mask.

The stake shattered.

"Ah... okay. Not that then." Buffy said through gritted teeth as she clutched at her hand which was now riddled with splinters. The creature turned it's head and swatted her off it's shoulder. Buffy was too distracted to avoid it, and she fell heavily to the ground.

"Oof!"

She was in trouble. She had no idea what this thing was, no weapon, no idea how to kill it and an injured hand.  
The creature turned, and regarded her curiously as she struggled to her feet. Buffy backed away slowly as the creature advanced...

A streak of black flashed across her vision. Someone leapt in front of her, and sprung impossibly high into the air. A girl. No.. a woman? It was hard to tell from the back . She wore a black martial arts robe, and a sword sheath hung at her hip. Her hair was pitch black to match her attire, and fell into a natural bob just above her shoulders.  
The mystery woman seemed to hover in the air in front of the monster, before bringing her sword slicing down, splitting the bone cleanly from top to bottom. The thing howled one last time, before dissolving into nothing.

Buffy stared. The woman landed gracefully and sheathed her sword. She began to walk away.

"Hey, wait! How'd you do that?" The woman turned slightly and regarded Buffy for a second, but then kept walking. Buffy blinked. The woman was ignoring her?

"Hey, HEY! You! Swordy gal! Karate kid! Don't ignore me!"

The woman stopped and turned again, this time seeming very confused. She glanced around once.

"Uh- me?"

"Well, yeah. Y'see anyone else around?"

The woman stepped closer to Buffy. She seemed intrigued.

"You can see me?"

"...Should I not be able to? Sorry." Buffy was getting annoyed.

"Look, chitchat later, yeah? Can you tell me what the hell that thing was?"

The mysterious woman wasn't listening. She stepped uncomfortably close to Buffy and began examining her face critically.

"That's very odd. Humans shouldn't be able to see me. What's so special about you?" She muttered, almost to herself.

Buffy chuckled bitterly. "What isn't? Anyways, how come were all so wrapped up about me, what about you? You mean you're not human? Are you some sort of invisi-demon?"

The woman shook her head. "Demon? No. But I am no longer human. My name is Rukia Kuchiki, and I am a Soul Reaper."

Buffy stared blankly at her. "A... you mean, like the grim reaper?"

"It's a similar concept, yes. But there are many of us."

"Right... sure you are." Buffy replied dubiously. Rukia seemed to pick up on her doubt.

"Hey! I'm not lying." She said angrily. "You saw the creature. You must realise this can't fall inside your definition of 'normal'."

Buffy actually laughed out loud. This Rukia really had no idea. "Oh, sister. This was a walk in the park for me."

Rukia frowned. "Nearly getting killed by a supernatural monster is a 'walk in the park'? Really?"

"Yep. Occupational hazard."

"What? What insane sort of 'occupation' could possibly involve that?"

"Well, you're one to talk. I'm the vampire slayer, if you must know. My name is Buffy Summers."

"Vampires? I don't know if you're delusional or messing with me."

"Oh, come on! Says the woman claiming to be a grim reaper!"

" _Soul_ reaper!"

"Buffy?" Rukia and Buffy turned at the voice. Angel stood leaning against a tombstone, looking terribly confused.

Buffy beamed. "Oh, Angel! You're back, good. No trouble with the vamp, right?"

"Uh... no, fine. I heard fighting, so I came back... Um, Buffy, who are you talking to?"

"Oh, this is Rukia. She kinda saved my ass, apparently she's a grim reaper - _I'msorrySOULreaper_ \- and... and... you look weird." Buffy squinted at Angel, whose expression was rapidly turning from confused to very worried.

"No, um. Buffy - there's no one there."

"What?" Buffy turned back to Rukia, who had a slightly smug expression resting on her face.

"Really? But she's right there! She's got a sword, she's smaller than me which is quite an achievement. She is wearing all black, which might make her a little harder to see in the dark, I suppose, but not invisib-" Buffy stopped. The creature that had attacked her had been almost entirely invisible to her at first. Could this be a similar case?

Angel scoured the seemingly empty space for any sign of this person Buffy was talking about. "...Is she really there? Are you sure? I mean, I suppose we have seen weirder things..."

Buffy looked at Rukia, suddenly doubtful. "I... I think so." She thought a moment, then punched her.

"Ergh!" Rukia staggered back, surprised by the blow. "Hey! That was uncalled for!"

Buffy flexed her wrist. "No, she's definitely there."

Angel nodded. "Yeah, I heard the impact."

"But you didn't hear her speak?"

"She spoke? No. I didn't hear that."

Rukia sighed. "As fun as this is, I don't have time for it. I have work to do, if you'll excuse me..."

"No, hang on!" Buffy caught her arm as Rukia tried to move away. "The creature that attacked me, what was it? Why couldn't I see it at first? Why can't Angel see you? Tell me!" Rukia considered her words with a thoughtful expression on her face. Finally, she relented.

"Very well, I suppose you have the right to know. I will tell you what I can."


	2. Time for research

**I forgot to mention in the last chapter - this takes place mid season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a little after episode 10 'Amends'.  
** **Enjoy!**

Chapter 2: Time for research

Buffy listened suspiciously to the Soul Reaper as she began to explain.

"The creature that attacked you is called a hollow,"

"Huh. Figures." Buffy replied, remembering the gaping hole in the creature's chest.

A smile tugged at the corners of Rukia's mouth.  
"You noticed the lack of a heart. Good. Hollows have no soul. They are creatures driven by their hunger, their need to devour human souls. It is a Soul Reaper's duty to protect lost souls from hollows, and ensure they get to the soul society."

Buffy frowned. "The Soul society? What's that?"

"Humans would call it the afterlife. Some may refer to it as heaven."

Rukia's expression hardened. "I must warn you, although hollows usually only go after the souls of the dead, they will also attack the living with unusually high spirit power."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"You can see ghosts and hollows. That is a sure sign of the presence of spirit power. From now onwards, you must be vigilant. The hollows will surely come after you."

Buffy groaned inwardly. Great. Now she didn't just have to worry about vampires and demons, she had to worry about these 'Hollows' as well?  
"Wonderful. Well... how do I fight them, then?"

"You don't." Rukia put her hand on the hilt of her sword. "I do."

"Wait- are you telling me not to defend myself, or that I can't defend myself? Listen, if I'm gonna have these things running around wanting to eat my soul or whatever, I'm damn gonna protect myself. If you-"

Rukia held up a hand, her head cocked to one side as if listening. After a tense moment, she appeared to decide on something.

"I must go. I doubt we'll meet again."

"What? No! I still have-"

Rukia nodded politely to Buffy, before leaping gracefully into the night sky and, keeping to the treeline, sped out of sight.

"Damn it!" Buffy cursed. That was annoying, Rukia had barely told her anything., and she still had dozens of questions! Although Buffy was still unsure about the whole 'Soul Reaper' story, she could tell the woman was telling the truth about not being human. Demon still seemed the most likely option, though. She should ask Giles if he knew anything about these 'Hollows'.

Buffy turned around to talk to Angel, but he was nowhere to be seen.

 _Heh.. come to think of it, it must have looked pretty weird, me talking to thin air. I guess he got a bit freaked._

Buffy sighed. She wished he hadn't turned up in the first place, things were already hard enough. It had only been a month ago that Angel was being harassed by the first, it had been horrible seeing him like that. ...

Bufy glanced around the graveyard one more time. She could see them now. The ghosts. They looked just like normal people, except they each had a long, grey chain attached to their chest. They were staring at her curiously. Buffy wondered how many of them had been killed by the demons. How many had died where it was her job to save them.

She shivered. This was getting very disturbing. She knew she should stay to finish patrolling, but now she had to worry about the hollows, she questioned the wisdom of that desicion. She would have to bring a sword if she wanted any chance of fighting them off, and as it was, it was too dangerous out alone. She grimaced.

 _Home then, for tonight. I'll have to contact Giles tomorrow._ She smiled.

 _Xander won't be happy that we'll be spending the weekend researching._

* * *

Rukia watched the town from her perch on the school's bell tower. Sunnydale. She had thought it was a joke, getting a posting here. However, the town had proved more... interesting than she had imagined. The number of dead were staggering, and there was an unusually high frequency of hollow attacks. In addition, she felt something else in this town. A presence she could only describe as evil. She thought back to that girl, the one who had been able to see her. She had called herself a 'Vampire Slayer'. Although Rukia had initially dismissed it, she now wondered. Could there have been an element of truth to Buffy's words? She certainly seemed unshaken by her encounter with the hollow. Rukia stared up at the sky vacantly. Had she made a mistake? Should she have given the girl more advice? If her spirit power was high enough that she could see spiritual beings, the Hollows would surely come after her. Rukia had been afraid telling her too much might make her a target, provoke her to be reckless, now she was worried that not telling her might have the same effect.

Rukia shook herself mentally.  
 _What am I thinking? As if a human could stand a chance against a hollow. The girl's best hope are the soul reapers. I will keep the hollows at bay._

Suddenly, Rukia whipped her head round to the right. There. A surge of spirit energy. It was a hollow, and a large one. She drew her Zanpakuto with grim determination. She had work to do.

* * *

"Huh? A what?"

"Soul reaper. That's what she said. According to her it's basically the same thing as the grim reaper, only with swords."

Buffy heard a sharp intake of breath over the phone as Willow took in the news.  
"Really? You sure? I mean, I know we're no stranger to the supernatural, but this is something else. We're talking about life after death, we're..."

"I know! I don't really believe her, but there sure is something wacky going on."

Willow was silent for a moment. "We need to figure out what's going on, for sure. Giles can get us into the library tomorrow, and I'll tell Xander. You can fill us all in on the details then, yeah? Oh, how about Faith? We'll want her there too, right?"

Buffy hesitated. It wasn't that she disliked Faith, she just found her... difficult. Well, she was part of the gang now. There was no sense in leaving her out.

"Yeah, get her there too."

"Okay, then. See you at the library tomorrow!"

"Sure. See you then."

* * *

The next morning, Buffy left the house and headed towards Sunnydale High. Along the way, she passed many souls in the street, some of which she recognised as former classmates. She hugged herself and shuddered. She wished she had brought a sword, but she knew there was no way she's get away with carrying it down the street in broad daylight. Instead all she had were her normal vampire slayer equipment and the largest knife she could fit in her bag.

She pressed on, avoiding looking directly at anyone she passed, until she eventually reached the school.

Upon entering the library, Xander, Willow and Giles all looked up.

"Buffy, you're here." Giles said. He frowned and looked at her carefully.  
"You're pale. Is everything alright?"

"Hm? Yeah! Sure. Why wouldn't it be?"

Xander stood up. "Alright, Buff. What's going on? You promised Bronze tonight!"

"Something came up." She approached them, and looked around.  
"Huh? Where's Faith?"

"Not here. Dunno why, she's probably just late."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "We'll have to get started without her. She can be filled in when she decides it'it's worth turning up." She looked at Giles. "Giles, have you every heard of a Hollow?"

"A Hollow? No, I don't believe I have."

"What about a Soul Reaper?

Giles frowned. "Uh, no. Buffy - what is this all about? It's sounding a bit..."

"I know. I know. Listen, last night I went patrolling, and I was attacked. I don't know what kind of demon it was, but it was big, and strong. I couldn't even see it at first, it was totally invisible. It sort of... melted into focus as I fought it."

"What did it look like?"

"Kinda like a big purple monkey without fur. But it had a weird head. Really weird. It was kinda like a skull, or a mask or something. Oh, and it had had a huge hole in it's chest."

Xander blinked. "Geez. Wacky, huh?"

Giles stared ahead thoughtfully. "I see... and what happened next?"

"Well, I ran around a bit and it tried to eat me and then this samurai chick, Rukia something, appeared."

"A Samurai? Seriously?"

"Well, close enough. She wore one of those black Japanese-style kimono things, only, like, for combat. She did have have a sword though! It was weird; I had been having so much trouble, and she just leapt up and sliced the hollow's head in two. Just like that!" Buffy pouted. "It was kinda annoying. She was all uppity and everything. She told me a bunch of stuff about 'Spirit Power' which I didn't really understand. Also - get this - she said she was a 'Soul reaper', which apparently involves killing bad guys and shepherding dead souls through to the next life."

She paused to let this sink in.

Xander's mouth dropped open. "... but she was lying, right? I mean, she must have been! Right?!"

Buffy shrugged. "Well, that's kinda what I want to find out. I hoped there'd be something on it here." She glanced up at Giles. "Any idea where to begin?"

"I think... I think I may know what you're talking about."

"What, really?"

Giles hurried off to his office and pulled some books out of his desk drawer. Upon returning, he set them down in the table in the middle. As usual, there were about five or six dusty books with worn leather bindings.  
"Here, some of the watcher diaries" He explained. "What you've been saying, Buffy, it sounds very familiar. I do belive you are not the first to encounter these... beings." He picked up the book on the top of the pile and began rifling through the pages. "Somewhere... somewhere in one of these..." He stopped and looked around at the others. "Well, come on, then! Pick up a book and start reading!"

The others jumped in surprise.  
"Oh! Right."

* * *

"Hey, hey! Found something!"

About an hour had passed, during which Giles had brought out three more sets of books, when Xander spoke up.

"Here! It was a hollow, right? I've found it."

Buffy leapt from her seat and ran over. She peered over Xander's shoulder to see the section he was pointing to on the page.

Xander was grinning triumphantly. "It says there was a slayer who started seeing ghosts, and monsters, which she refer to as hollows. It even mentions these soul-reaper guys!"

"When was this? What year?"

"Uh, ah, I'm not sure, hang on."

The pages rustled.

"16th century, the slayer was from England. Yeah, it's all right here! Hey, apparently she had the luck to be living on top of a hellmouth too. A few years after she got chosen, she began to see them, and then... oh."

Willow frowned. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Buffy stood back, expression unreadable. "The watchers- they thought she'd gone crazy. They killed her."

"Oh..."

There was silence.

"Oh, but that won't happen to you!" Willow blurted out, seeing her friend's troubled expression. "We know you're not crazy. Even if you were we'd never hurt you."

Xander smiled. "Yeah! Not as if we could hurt you though, super - Buff."

"I know, guys." Buffy laughed. "This is good, right? We know this is real-"

"-My god.." Giles muttered. The others turned to him in surprise. He was staring at the far wall in shock. His eyes turned to the three teenagers.

"Don't you three realise the implications of this? This is evidence of an afterlife! The answers to so many of humanity's mysteries lie at our fingertips! Buffy, this friend of yours - what did you say her name was?"

"Rukia. And she's not my friend!"

"You must find this Rukia again. The things she could tell us - oh, it could tell us so much!"

Buffy stared at her mentor. His eyes were practically sparkling with excitement.

"Hey, slow down there! Little miss holier-than-thou made it pretty clear she didn't plan to see me again."

"Well, find her! We cannot let this opportunity pass us by."

Buffy held up her hands in front of her. "Alright! Alright, got it. I suppose I could do with another chat with her. She did say something about me being a target for the Hollows now that I can see them." She shrugged. "Y'know. Nothing new. Oh, that reminds me, from now on, I may need access to a sword every now and then."

Giles glanced sideways at her. "A sword? Whatever for."

"Well, since hollows don't have hearts, staking doesn't really work." She held up her hand, still scarred from where she had agonisingly worked out the splinters last night. "Believe me, I tried. If I'm gonna start being followed by these things I'd like to actually be able to do some damage."

"Very well then. Be careful. It's hard to look inconspicuous walking down the street with a katana."

Xander fidgeted impatiently.  
"Well, are we done now? You got what you wanted to know, right? It's only five, so we can go the the bronze later, yeah?"

Buffy nodded. "Sure. You and Will can go. I want to stay and see if these books have any advice on killing hollows."

"Sure. But you'd better be there tonight, you are not bailing on us again." Xander jumped up. "You coming Will?"

Willow jumped. She had been staring blankly at the ground for the last minute or so. "Oh! Yeah, coming…" She seemed very troubled.

As Xander left, Buffy caught Willow's arm. "Are you okay? You seem a bit…"

Willow squirmed uncomfortably. "Well, yeah. No… I don't know. It… it's silly."

"If there's something bothering you, I'm here to listen."

"It's just… Giles is right. This is evidence of an afterlife. And this… so far, it doesn't really seem to mesh with the whole Jewish thing…"

The news swept over Buffy like a tidal wave. _Of course! How didn't I see it? If this is real, it could put Willow's entire faith to the torch!_ Despite not being religious herself, Buffy understood what it meant to believe in something, how important their faith could be to someone. She looked sorrowfully at Willow.

"My god, Will. I didn't even…"

"Oh, it's okay! Really! I just.. need a minute to…" She took a deep breath. "I'll see you tonight at the bronze, okay?" She smiled cheerfully and then, without waiting for an answer, left the room.

Buffy was speechless, she could hardly believe she missed it! This could very easily become very upsetting for Willow if not handled right. How were you supposed to comfort someone in a situation such as this? Was there _anything_ that could be said?

Sighing, Buffy turned back to the stack of books-

The door slammed open with a loud crash. Buffy looked around in alarm and saw Faith, bruised and bloody, staggering in through the door.

"Faith!" Buffy ran over to the other slayer before she collapsed. Giles reappeared from behind the shelves.

"What happened?"

"There's.. something out there…" Faith gasped. She tried to move forwards, but winced and clutched her side in pain. "Ergh! Shit. Heh, I'm pretty bashed up, huh?"

"What is it? What did you see?"

"Well, that's just the thing Buff. I didn't see anything! Son of a bitch was invisible, wasn't he? Look, I hears crashes, right? Real loud. I run over and see a bunch of craters in the ground just appear! Then I get smacked by god knows what..." She paused to spit out a mouthful of blood. "I couldn't see it, I could barely even hear it. I had no chance."

Buffy and Giles exchanged glances. Could it be…?

Buffy ran to the weapons closet and took out a sword. "Where is it?"

"Uh, well, here's the thing. I think it might have followed me…"


	3. The Substitute

Chapter 3: The substitute.

There was a scream from outside that turned Buffy's blood to ice.

"Willow?" She whispered. Without hesitation, she ran out of the library and sprinted down the school's corridors, flying past the classrooms. As she ran, the whole building began to shake. Buffy could hear something outside, crashing over and over again. She had to focus to avoid tripping over the juddering ground.

Then it sounded, the same echoing roar that she had heard last night. Buffy's hand tightened over the hilt of the sword. It was a hollow, definitely.

"Buffy!"

She could hear Xander yelling her name. Buffy increased her pace, terrified she may not get there in time. She reached the school's entrance and threw open the doors.

Xander was lying with his back resting against a tree, clutching his arm. It was wet with blood. Willow stood next to him and was desperately trying to pull him back inside. They were both glancing around frantically, not seeing the gigantic, imposing humanoid figure of the hollow that loomed before them. It's arm was raised to strike, but upon seeing Buffy it froze. Slowly, it lowered it's talon - like hand and moved away from Willow and Xander, now entirely focused on Buffy.

"Buffy! Buffy, can you see it?"

"..yeah.." Buffy glared defiantly at the creature. Raising her voice, she shouted, "You just made a very big mistake, mister. You hurt my friends, and you're gonna pay for that."

The hollow advanced, and so did Buffy. She ran forwards, dodging around its strikes, and sunk her blade deep into it's leg. It stuck. As the hollow howled in pain, Buffy wrenched the sword free, saying blood. It's skin was tougher than she expected; she had planned to make a clean cut and dance out of reach, but she hadn't put nearly enough force into the strike. The hollow kicked at her which she avoided by a hair's breadth. She rapidly retreated away, trying to decide what her next move would be.

Willow watched the fight with concern. It was odd, watching Buffy swing the sword around and appear to cut through thin air, and even more unnerving seeing blood appear from nowhere. If she concentrated, she could just make out faint colours swirling in the air above her.

"Willow… can you see something?" Willow looked down at Xander. He was straining his eyes, watching the fight earnestly.

"Just a blur."

"Yeah… me too… but I think it's getting clearer."

As the fight continued, Buffy swore. It took way too much effort just to make a small cut, how the hell was she supposed to kill it? She was tiring, faster than she cared to admit. A large hand barreled into her, sending her flying into a wall.

Grunting in pain, Buffy struggled to her feet. The creature was moving faster, driven by bloodlust. It came closer-

"Watch out!" Someone pulled Buffy to the side seconds before the claw thudded into the ground where she had been stood. Buffy rolled away, and looked up.

"Hello again." Rukia stood over her, sword in hand. She smiled. "Seems this is the second time I've saved your life."

"Rukia!" Buffy grinned back. "About time."

Willow called out, "Buffy… is that..?"

"You can see her?"

"Well, almost, yeah."

Buffy began to smile, when she remembered something.

 _\- "I must warn you, although hollows usually only go after the souls of the dead, they will also attack the living with unusually high spirit power."_

 _"What does that have to do with me?"_

 _"You can see ghosts and hollows. That is a sure sign of the presence of spirit power. From now onwards, you must be vigilant. The hollows will surely come after you" -_

She froze, panic building up inside her. She had been the main target for the Hollow so far, her friends had simply been in the way. But if Willow and Xander were also gaining the ability to see it, did that mean it was going to start attacking them? She looked up at the hollow. It's head was held up high in the air, as if it was a predator that had suddenly caught a new scent. It started to turn…

"No!" Buffy ran forwards, determined not to let it near her friends. Rukia eyes widened in alarm.

"What are you doing? Stop!" Rukia ran after Buffy, but she wasn't listening. She didn't care, all she knew was she wasn't letting that thing anywhere near her friends.

She took a swing at it's leg. "Hey, ugly!" It turned to look at her. "That's right! Look at me! I'm much tastier than them." The hollow leaned down opening it's mouth wide. Buffy braced herself…

Drops of red blood fell the ground and sank between the blades of grass. Buffy stared ahead in shock. "What…?"

Rukia had thrown herself between Buffy and the Hollow, her blade had carved it's way into the white mask. The creature's teeth were buried in her shoulder.

"You… fool…" Rukia managed before the hollow broke away, crying out in agony. Rukia fell to the ground, and Buffy ran to her side.

"Rukia? What the hell were doing? I had it under control!"

"Under control? Did you think you were going to fight it with *that*?" She nodded weakly to Buffy's sword.

"Why wouldn't -"

"A Hollow is a spiritual being, you need a Zanpakuto to fight it." Rukia closed her eyes, panting heavily. She was losing a lot of blood.

Buffy stared blankly at her own sword, then threw it away in frustration. She glanced over her shoulder at the hollow which had begun to recover. Willow was supporting Xander and staggering away, but nowhere near fast enough. The hollow would surely catch them.

"Well, what do I do? How do I fight it?" Buffy's voice rose in panic.

Rukia opened her eyes again and struggled into a sitting position. "There is… one way." She rose her sword. "You must become a soul reaper!"

Buffy's eyes widened. "What?"

"Take my sword and run it through your heart. I will pour my powers into you."

Buffy hesitated. She looked at the hollow again, and saw it was once again and advancing on her friends.

Rukia shouted at her. "You must hurry! Don't you want to save your friends?"

Buffy regarded Rukia. "Are you sure about this? Is this allowed?"

Rukia smiled sadly. "We don't have a choice."

"Buffy!"

The hollow was gaining on Willow and Xander. They had abandoned their attempt to get to the school and were instead attempting to shelter behind a tree.

Buffy decided, and smiled grimly. "Ready when you are."

Rukia returned the smile. Together, they pushed the blade into Buffy's chest.

A shower of white light enveloped the pair. Buffy closed her eyes as she felt the power rush in through the blade and blossom across her body, filling her veins with pure energy. She felt lighter and more free, as if all along she had been moving through tar and had suddenly stepped into open air. Her rough, everyday clothes fell away and she felt a smooth robe being folded over her skin.

The light dissipated. Buffy looked down.

"…Cool."

She was wearing the same black robes that Rukia had been, and she could feel by the weight that she had a sword strapped to her back.

Without missing a beat, she spun around and charged forwards, all fear and uncertainty gone. Reaching up behind her head, she grasped the hilt and slid the sword from it's sheath. It was large, larger than Rukia's, with double prongs and a serrated edge. Buffy grinned.

"Oh, yeah. I'm so liking this!"

She circled around the hulking beast, skimming rapidly over the grass, and stood between it and her friends.

"Buffy? I-is that you?" Xander asked in disbelief, staring at her. Willow wore a similar expression.

"Hi guys! What, thought I'd leave you?" She crouched, coiled like a cat about to pounce. The hollow roared in fury and lunged towards her. Willow squealed and Xander tensed up, both bracing themselves for the end.

"Never."

She brought up her sword in a neat arc, slicing through the mask like it was butter. For a moment, the thing recoiled and howled, and then just like that, it was gone.

….

From across the road, watching them from the shadows, a man wielding a walking cane stood. He smiled.

…

When Buffy woke up the next morning, she didn't remember much about the rest of the night. She had a vague memory of taking Xander to the hospital claiming that he "fell down the stairs while holding a pair of scissors', which earned them several suspicious glances from the staff. Faith had refused to accompany them, choosing instead to return home to recuperate by herself, while Willow had quietly separated from the group and had gone her own way. Buffy didn't remember seeing Rukia again after the fight.

She spent Sunday by checking up on Xander. Aside from damage done to his pride, he was healing fine and had miraculously escaped serious injury. They called up Willow to see if she was up for going to the bronze to unwind and discuss the night's events, to which she hesitantly accepted. Just before she went, Buffy also went to Faith's to check that she was okay, but she never answered the doorbell. Shrugging, Buffy left her to her own devices.

It was still early afternoon when they arrived at the bronze. Fairly empty with the staff still finishing cleaning up from the night before, the gang took a quiet seat in the corner.

"So Buff… what the hell actually happened last night?" Xander asked, a frustrated glare in his eyes.

"I'm honestly not really sure. I guess I kinda became a 'Soul reaper' for a bit. Did you see that wicked sword? That was-"

"-No, Buff. I mean.. er.. like, actually what happened? I don't remember."

Willow nodded. "Same here. I mean, I've got little snippets, but.."

Buffy stared. "What? I mean, things are a little blurry for me after the fight, but how could you possibly forget what happened? It kinda sticks in the mind!"

"I know I went to hospital, but I don't remember what for. Well. I have a faint memory of falling down the stairs, but it feels fake, like a dream for something." He shrugged. Willow looked at him curiously.

"Really? That's weird, 'cos I remember you getting those injuries from a bunch of scissor-wielding frog demons."

Both Xander and Buffy fell silent. Willow blushed.

"Come to think of it, that may have been a dream too."

"I don't get it!" Buffy exclaimed. "Okay… what's the last thing you guys properly remember before everything goes Kablooey?"

Xander replied, "I just remember walking out of the school after research yesterday, then it's all just a mess. It's like there's several possible pasts crammed inside my head and I don't know which one's real, but I know they can't all be. Like, in one case I just go home, or in another I get attacked by Cordy as a vampire, or I'm attacked by this invisible monster, or-"

"Yes! Yes! Invisible monster, that's it!" Buffy cried, while Willow regarded her dubiously.

"It is? I listed that below frog demons in terms of probability."

"No, that's what happened! Don't you remember what I told you at the library yesterday? That's exactly what we talked about!" She sighed. "Please tell me you remember me in that black robe thing. Y'know, with the sword?"

"Really? That was real? I thought that was part of the alternate universe where you hosted a demon costume party."

Buffy looked at Willow with concern. "Sometimes I worry about your imagination, Will."

"Hey guys." Oz strode into the room, carrying his red electric guitar.

"You guys are here early. Hey, why weren't you at the gig last night?"

Willow smiled apologetically. "That's kinda what we're trying to work out. Something messed with our memories so we don't really remember, but we know something wacky happened."

"Ooh. that sounds kinda rough. Anything ideas?"

Buffy shrugged. "Not really. I suppose I'd better consult Giles about it tomorrow, but there's not a whole lot we an do about it for now."

"Well anyway, you're in luck. The band that was scheduled for tonight called in that they can't make it, so the Dingoes get to play again."

"Kinda sorry you missed the events last night, though. From what Buffy tells us, it was pretty interesting."

"I wish I knew where Rukia went after that. I bet she could clear things up." Buffy sighed.

"Rukia… that's that soul reaper, right?"

"Soul reaper?" Oz gave a low whistle. "Sounds serious. This a new big bad?"

"Nah, Rukia's on our side. I think. It's very unclear at the moment."

Oz shrugged. "You guys will have to get me caught up. Not now, though, the band's setting up, and I've gotta run. Catch you guys later."

The rest of the night was spent dancing, and worrying over unfinished homework. Angel made a brief appearance to check in on Buffy (much to Xander's annoyance), and Buffy filled him in as much as she could on what they had learned. He cautioned her to be careful before leaving, not five minutes after first arriving.

The group parted ways as the evening progressed. Buffy made a few brief rounds of the graveyard before turning in for the night. As she went to bed, she mulled over the events of the past two days. Rukia was still very much a mystery, and Buffy had no idea what had happened to her. And what had caused Willow's and Xander's sudden lapse in memory? If someone had tried to erase their memories, they hadn't done a particularly good job, as the truth was buried in there just under a mound of lies. What would happen if another Hollow turned up? It was clear to Buffy now that normal weaponry just wouldn't be good enough, but with Rukia gone how could she access the power she needed to kill one? The thought haunted her, remembering how frustratingly powerless she had been when it had been attacking her friends. Sure, she had slowed it down, but that wasn't good enough. Nowhere near good enough. She resolved to spend as much of the following day as she could in the library reading through the watchers journals, to see if she could find anything that could give her a clue about where to go from here.

 **Thank you for the reviews so far, it's always great to have feedback. ttsmiscellany, thanks for your suggestions, I do like those ideas! I will definitely take them into account.**


	4. Rukia Kuchiki

Chapter 4:

Monday morning arrived. Buffy dragged herself to school, but her mind was elsewhere. Dismissing Cordelia's daily morning jibes with impressive indifference, she headed straight for the library. Giles glanced up as she entered.

"Buffy, good. Is everyone all right after what happened on Saturday?"

"I'm glad someone remembers" Buffy muttered bitterly. Giles blinked, looking mildly affronted by her terse demeanor.

"I.. well, yes. Granted, I wasn't actually present for the fight. Don't the others remember?"

Buffy sat down heavily by the table and picked up the Watcher's diary covering the 16th century. "No! They don't. Not really. I mean, I'm a little fuzzy too, but at least I have an excuse! I was all juiced up on soul reaper powers."

"You were _What?_ "

"Yeah, but they weren't! And now Rukia's gone, and if I don't find out how to get that power back, I don't know if I'll be able to fight these 'hollows'. Have you seen Faith since it happened?"

"Er, no. Buffy, you're not making much sense. What exactly happened that night?"

"I thought I just told you."

"No, what you did was rant incoherently."

"Oh. A lot happened. In short, Rukia turned up and... I think she lent me her powers. It was weird. Awesome, but weird. I had a sword and everything."

"I thought you took a sword with you?"

"No, this was a different sword. Ah, I can't describe it. It was like it was.. part of me. The sword. Like it was part of my arm. And it was a hell of a lot more effective than the other one." She sighed. "If I don't get that back, and I don't figure out another way to kill them, I'm not gonna be able to defend myself or anyone else against these things."

Giles mulled this over. "..Very well. I'll stay here and see what I can find on fighting these Hollows. In the meantime you should probably get to class."

"But this is…" She trailed off seeing Giles's stern expression. "…Fine. Got it."

Buffy sulkily trudged into her classroom. It was still early and the teacher hadn't arrived yet, so the students simply milled about, chatting happily amongst themselves. Buffy strode over to her desk and hung her bag off the side of the chair.

"Well, if it isn't little miss sulk-a-lot." A familiar voice quipped. "You had some serious attitude this morning Buffy. Calmed down yet?"

Buffy forced an angry grin onto her face and turned around. "Yes, thank you Cordelia." Ever since Xander and Cordelia had broken up, she had returned to her old ways. She appeared to have been accepted back into her old group and was more condescending than ever.

Cordelia shrugged. "Hey, don't let me pop your perfect little bubble of mopyness. I don't want to get any on me."

"Why are you here Cordelia? Are you so stuck for things to do that you actually have nothing else to do other than annoy me?"

"Just thought you could use a wake up slap, Buffy. The whole hostile aura is kinda off putting."

"Oh! Are you Buffy Summers then?" A cheery voice interrupted them.

"Yeah, who-" Buffy stopped short when she saw who was speaking. In front of her stood Rukia Kuchiki, sporting a long sky-blue summer dress and wearing the most innocent and cheerful smile imaginable.

"I'm Rukia Kuchiki, pleased to meet you! I'm going to be sitting next to you from now on!"

Buffy's mouth fell open in utter shock, completely caught off guard. Oblivious, Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"Oh great. Is this school a magnet for freaks or what?"

"Wait.. you can see her?" Buffy managed in disbelief.

"Why, yes Buffy! I can see the girl standing two feet in front of me! Geez, you're really out of it today, huh?" She shook her head and began to move past Rukia. "Welcome to Sunnydale. Try not to die horribly on your first day!"

Rukia's smile did not falter. "What a nice sentiment! I am very much looking forwards to the days ahead!"

"Quit talking like that! What the hell are you doing here?" Buffy hissed.

"I am sure I don't know what you mean!"

It was now that Xander entered the classroom. Seeing Buffy he grinned and made his way over.

"Hey, Buff! I see you made it to class today, that's… hello." He said, seeing Rukia for the first time and obviously not recognising her from last night. "Hey. Hi. I don't believe we've met."

Rukia beamed. "No, we haven't! My name is Rukia Kuchiki, I'm a new student here!"

"I'm Xander. It's always nice to see a new face!" His brow twitched. "It's funny, your name sounds slightly familiar."

Buffy glared at him. Didn't he remember?

"Xander, she's-"

"-Well! This was very pleasant, but I'm afraid I need to have a word with Buffy in private, if that's okay."

Xander blinked, clearly confused. "Um. Yeah! Sure, I'll just… go over here..." He slowly moved away to his own desk, nodding a goodbye to Buffy. He cast several suspicious glances their way as he left.

"Buffy, please follow me!" Said Rukia firmly, taking Buffy's hand and pulling her out of the room. Buffy followed without resisting.

Rukia led Buffy to a secluded area behind the school where they were sure not to be interrupted while the rest of the school was in class. When they arrived, Rukia turned to face Buffy, her face once again stern.

Buffy folded her arms. "Why the hell are you here?"

"My, what a cold greeting. Not pleased to see me?"

"Actually, I kinda am, you haven't been very helpful so far and I'd like to know what's going on. I thought you'd returned to that Soul Society or something, left us in the dust."

Rukia's face darkened. "I can't. Only a Soul Reaper can return to the soul society."

"Isn't that what you are?"

"Not anymore." She looked away. "I only intended to give you half my powers, but you nearly took them all. I have only a bit of spirit power left."

"Oh. Ah. Is that my fault? Sorry." Buffy laughed guiltily. Then she paused. "Wait… so I still have that power? I can still go all reaper mode?"

"Precisely. And that is something I have to talk to you about. Until I regain my powers and are able to return to my duties, you must assume the duties of a substitute soul reaper." Rukia said sternly.

Buffy began to laugh before she realised Rukia was serious.

"Um. Yeah, no thanks. I already have a full time job slaying demons, I really don't have time for another."

"You don't have a choice. You took this on yourself when you drained me of my power."

"I was protecting my friends!"

"Your friends are not the only people in danger from the Hollows! You would refuse to help a stranger where you would help a friend?"

"Don't you understand? I already do that! I do that every day! I repeatedly put my life on the line for people I have never even met! Me, I go out there, I and I fight the creatures that no one else can fight! Because I am the only one who can."

Rukia listened quietly. "And how is this any different?"

Buffy was so frustrated she could scream. "It.. it's different... I just don't need any more of this…" She looked sadly at Rukia. "Look, this power? Take it back. This 'Spirit energy' I've got. I don't want it. Just take it, take it from me, from my friends, so we won't be targets any more and you can go home."

Rukia's expression had softened to... was it sympathy? "I can't."

Just then, something in Rukia's pocket beeped. She took out her phone and looked at the screen.

"Perfect timing." She muttered, and looked back up at Buffy. "We have an order. A hollow has just appeared, it's not far."

"Huh? You want me to..? Oh, no. Nope. I am not doing this." Buffy turned on her heel and walked away, so she did not see Rukia pull a red glove over her hand, then run up behind her and…

Wham! Rukia slammed the palm of her gloved hand into Buffy's back, propelling her forwards.

"Oof!" The air was forced out of Buffy's lungs with the surprising force that Rukia had put behind the attack. She fell forwards onto the ground, grazing her skin against the asphalt.

"Hey!" She growled as she stood up and brushed herself off. "What the hell was that f... huh?" With a jolt, she realised she was once again wearing the black robe of the soul reaper. She reached up and felt her hand brush over the hilt of her sword.

"That is your Zanpakuto. The main weapon of a soul reaper." Rukia explained, watching. "Although I don't know why yours is that shape. Zanpakuto usually have the outward appearance of an ordinary katana."

Buffy's eyes were drawn to the floor.

"Woah! What? Why is… huh?" She stammered as she backed away from what appeared to be her body, lying motionless on the ground in front of her.

"Right now, you are in spirit form, your soul has left your body." Seeing Buffy's terrified expression, Rukia chuckled. "Don't worry, your body is still alive. Just put it somewhere safe and out of sight until we can come back for it."

Buffy glanced up at Rukia. "How did you do that? Get me in spirit form?"

Rukia held up her hand. On the palm of the red glove was a skull surrounded by blue flames. "I got this from... A friend. It has the power to force a soul out of it's mortal body."

"You aren't in soul form, are you? Cordelia could see you, and I'm pretty damn sure she doesn't have any spirit power."

"Correct. I am in a gigai, an artificial body for soul reapers to use. As you already have a body you won't be needing one, so don't worry about that. Now, hurry. We must get to the hollow before it hurts anyone!"

They ran out of the school and down the street, Rukia leading the way. "It's down here!" Buffy recognised the path they were following: they were going to the graveyard.

They arrived just in time to see a hollow advancing on a young child. Buffy looked closely. It was a ghost, and he was trying to run away but he wasn't fast enough. She went to draw her Zanpakuto, but Rukia call out, "Don't"

Buffy turned, confused. "What? Why?"

"Don't help him."

"Are you serious?"

"A soul reaper must treat all souls fairly. If you help him, you must also help the rest. If you meant what you said and don't want to take on the responsibility, you mustn't help."

"I am not going to stand by and watch while a kid is slaughtered right in front of me!"

"Oh? And what about others? Are they not worth being saved just because they don't happen to be near you at the time? Don't be selfish!"

Buffy scowled. Selfish? That was a new one. She looked back to the child. He had tripped and fallen down, and was now scrambling backwards as fast as he could as a clawed hand reached towards him. She couldn't watch. She knew she had to do something.

She cast one last irritated glance at Rukia. "Screw you."

She lept forwards, bringing her sword up. She cut cleanly through the wrist of the gigantic hand and then, without allowing the creature time to recover, spun through the air and delivered a merciless blow to the head. She stood and watched as it crumbled away into nothing. "Just like a vampire," She muttered. "Just cleaner."

The hysterical sobs behind her brought her back to attention. She turned and knelt down beside the child, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Hey, hey. It's okay now. It's gone. You're safe." She said soothingly.

Rukia approached her. "You should perform the soul burial"

"What's that?"

"It's the ritual to send souls to the soul society. He'll be safe there. Simply touch the end of your Zanpakuto's hilt to his forehead."

"Oh, okay.." She reached for her sword, and the boy recoiled in fear.

"Hey, it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to send you so where safe, okay? Somewhere away from the monsters."

The boy nodded, but never taking his eyes off the blade. Slowly, Buffy raised the blade and gently pressed the end of the hilt to his head, just as Rukia had described. Taking it away revealed a ghostly blue light that settled where the Zanpakuto had touched. The boy closed his eyes, a sudden serene look passed over his features as the light spread around him and he slowly sank into the ground.

When it was done, Buffy turned to Rukia. "Are you sure he'll be safe there?"

"Yes. Hollows don't come to the soul society. He will be well protected." Rukia assumed a serious expression. "So. I take it you've made your choice? Are you ready to assume the duties of the soul reaper?"

Buffy sighed in defeat and smiled weakly. "Sure, why not? It's not as if I'd be going terribly out of my way."

Rukia smiled. "Glad to hear it."

"Come on. If we hurry back we might be able to catch the rest of History."

The rest of the morning passed quickly. Rukia and Buffy were scolded by the teacher for being late, to which they mumbled a quick excuse about 'losing track of time', and they sat down silently. Both Willow and Xander exchanged intrigued glances at this, resolving to ask Buffy about it later on.

The bell for morning break came. As everyone packed up to leave, Buffy approached Rukia.

"How were your first human lessons?" She asked teasingly.

"It was… interesting. And weird. And a bit dull."

"Yeah, school in a nutshell." Buffy grinned. "Come on, I want you to meet the gang."

Rukia cast her a confused glance. "The gang?"

"Y'know when I told you I was a Vampire Slayer? I wasn't kidding. If you're gonna be hanging around Sunnydale for a bit you really ought to know what's going on." She shrugged. "To be honest I'm kinda surprised you don't know, you being a guardian of death and all. I'd have thought it all tied in pretty neatly."

Rukia looked at her thoughtfully, but said nothing.

Willow came up to them. "Hey, Buff! Where'd you go? You missed a good ten minutes of the lesson." She nodded and smiled at Rukia. "Oh. Hi! You're the new kid aren't you?"

Rukia assumed her cheery, false persona. "Yes, good to meet you! I'm Rukia Kuchiki, and-"

"-it's okay, Rukia. You don't need to act around Willow, she's in on everything."

Rukia turned to stare at Buffy disapprovingly. "Really?"

Willow glanced between them. "Um. Right. Buff? What's going on?"

"Let's get to the library. I'll explain there."

Giles glanced up at Buffy entered. "Buffy! Good news, I've read on a bit in the journals, and-"

"-No need for that anymore. I've found our rouge soul reaper." She stood aside, revealing Rukia behind her.

Willow gasped, eyes fixed on Rukia. "Ohh, you're the soul reaper?"

"This is incredible." Giles jumped up and strode over to a slightly stunned Rukia, and shook her hand. "Rukia Kuchiki, yes? It's wonderful to meet you!"

"I-I.. um, yes…"

At that moment, Xander entered behind them. "Buffy, Rukia, where did you two go?" He glanced uncertainly at Rukia, unsure of how much he should say in her presence. "Was it to do with… that thing?"

"Well done Xander. Subtle." Buffy reproached him sarcastically. "Rukia's the soul reaper I was telling you about the other day."

Xander jumped. "Oh. Right. A soul reaper! Okay..." He looked curiously at Rukia. "So that's all real? I mean, really?"

Buffy sighed. "Turns out we've got ourselves mixed up in something big. Or rather, I have."


	5. Old wounds

**Sorry in advance for any sentences that don't quite make sense. I've been writing this on my tablet and auto correct is being a real pain in the neck.**

Chapter 5: Old Wounds

The next few minutes was spent by Buffy informing the other three on recent events. Rukia stood a way behind her, never saying anything, watching the scene with interest. As she progressed in her explanation, Willow became quieter and quieter.

When Buffy was done, Rukia finally stepped forwards. "Now that's out of the way, I would like an explanation myself. Buffy, you have referred to yourself as a 'slayer' several times, and you all seem acquainted with demons. Is there something I should be told?"

Giles glanced sideways at Buffy, who nodded. "Yes, I suppose there is." He said, removing his glasses. "Although I am surprised that a.. a spiritual being such as yourself is unaware of Buffy or the work she does."

"That's what I said." Buffy muttered. Giles ignored her.

"Earth is host to a whole number of intelligent beings, not just humans. I won't go into detailed history as to why there here, but demons arrived on the earth several millenia ago. And ever since there have been demons, the has been the slayer. As it is written in the prophecy, _' Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer.'_ "

Rukia noted with amusement that as he talked the other three mouthed dramatically along to the words.

"That pretty much tells you all you need to know." Giles continued, oblivious. "Demons are usually quite rare. However, Sunnydale happens to be sitting right on top of a hellmouth, a fountain of mystical and demonic energy which acts as a magnet for demons to congregate around. It is Buffy's job, as the slayer, to quell their numbers."

Rukia frowned thoughtfully. "I see… this 'hellmouth' may explain your increases in spirit energy. Usually it is an extremely rare occurrence for a human to be born with high enough spirit energy to see ghosts, but I have heard rumours that those placed in extreme near - death scenarios can experience these changes as well. This abundance of supernatural energy may account for why it worked for you, and, say, not for those fighting in the front lines in wars."

Buffy's eyes widened. "Of course! The only other records we could find of the soul reapers came from a slayer stationed on top of a hellmouth. It makes sense!"

Rukia continued. "I admit, Buffy, I was unaware that your friends here were also part of it. I assumed you were alone. Their high spirit energy explains why the memory modification did not work as well as it should."

"Wait, _memory modification_?" Xander exclaimed. "You tried to erase our memories?"

Willow shook her head. "No, that's not it. You just tried to make us remember something else, didn't you? That's why Xander and I remember different things, as well as what actually happened."

Rukia lowered her eyes to the floor. "I apologise for that. I would not have done so if I had realised."

Buffy laughed. "Heh, don't worry about it, no harm done. The longer you spend around here, though, the more you realise the human brain is capable of explaining away or outright dismissing a whole lot more than it ought to. Out of curiosity though, how did you do it?"

Rukia shrugged. "It's a tool I got from a friend of mine."

"Uh - huh. And who is this mysterious 'friend' who's so generous to you?"

Rukia chuckled darkly. "Oh, he's not generous, I pay for everything. He's not important right now."

"How long until you can go back, Rukia?" Xander asked.

"I'm not sure. Could be days. Could be months. It depends how quickly my spirit energy returns."

"Well, if danger what's recharges it you couldn't be in a better place." He grinned. "Just stick around with us for a bit and you'll be back in no time. If you don't die first."

Later that evening when school had eneded, Buffy and the others went home as usual. Rukia had disappeared before she had a chance to say goodbye for the evening, so no one knew where she went.

When Buffy got home, she headed up to her room to check on her supplies and rest before the night's patrol, when she heard a strange beeping sound…

"Hmm?" She cast her eyes about her room, suddenly tense, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Was it the door? The wardrobe...?

The wardrobe door suddenly flew open. Buffy yelled in surprise and stumbled backwards. A hand emerged from inside holding a familiar mobile phone.

"We've get trouble!"

Buffy blinked. Emerging from her closet was Rukia, wearing an old pair of Buffy's pajamas. "Ru..kia..? The hell…?"

Rukia was either oblivious to her shock or didn't care. She jumped out and held up the phone. "We've got a hollow. We have to go."

"Why are you in there?"

"Why not? I needed a place to stay, this seemed convenient all around."

Buffy noticed with faint amusement that Rukia had managed to construct a makeshift bed on the larger lower shelf of the closet. "You're sleeping in there? Is that necessary? Don't you have somewhere… else… to stay?"

"We don't have time for this!" Rukia muttered. She pulled on a familiar glove..

"Hey, what's..? Hang on, wait just a.. wait. Wait!" Buffy yelled, but Rukia ignored her. Slamming her palm into Buffy's stomach, Buffy felt herself slip out of her body which folded up and collapsed on the floor.

"Now, move! We've got to go!"

Buffy took a second to position her body on the bed as if she were sleeping. "Yeah, coming, coming." She mumbled. Between her Soul Reaper and slayer duties, she wasn't going to have a lot of time to herself.

Rukia opened the window and vaulted out. Buffy followed, noticing how much easier it was in spirit form. She followed Rukia as they sprinted down the road, a couple of people turning and staring curiously at Rukia as she sped past.

"Where is it?" Buffy asked, but she was pretty sure she could guess. Since transforming, she had begun to gain the ability to feel people's presence. It wasn't something she'd be able to explain. It was like a sixth sense, the same way you could recognise a person's smell or the sound of their voice.

"It's still a a little way ahead yet. Say Rukia, staring down at the phone.

As they continued, Buffy frowned. She could feel the hollow's presence clearly now, and it was near someone else, someone familiar. She also began to recognise the route they were taking...

Faith sat alone in her apartment, staring at herself in the small hand mirror. The bruises had gone down already. That was a perk of being a Slayer, having superhuman healing abilities. She was still angry at herself for not being able to do more when she was attacked. No, she hadn't been able to do anything. _Buffy_ had to go and save her.

Faith gritted her teeth in anger. She hated that whatever she did, Buffy was always one step ahead, always a little bit better, always _right_. She threw the mirror at the wall. It shattered.

 _I should go train. It's not as if I've got anything else to do._ She thought moodily.

She had just stood up and slipped on her jacket, when she heard something. Behind her, the glass tickled. Faith turned, but there was nothing there.

 _Damn. I got mice again?_ She sighed inwardly. She'd deal with them later, she wasn't in the mood right now. She turned away again and reached for the door handle, but a loud thud caused her to spin around again. Several old books had fallen of of their precarious position on the rickety shelf. Faith reached into her jacket pocket for a stake, now sure there was something wrong.

"Hey! This is private property, you know!" She yelled. " 'ain't nothing worth stealing anyways. Now why don't you just show yourself before I have to come find you?" She edged forwards, keeping her back pressed against the wall to ensure nothing could creep out behind her. Now… what was it? A demon? Or your run of the mill human trespasser?

Something rammed into Faith from the side, sending her sprawling. She recovered quickly and cat her eyes about, but the apartment seemed empty.

"What the hell…?" She began, but trailed off. This was too familiar. Her mind went back to Friday evening, when she had been attacked by that invisible creature. This felt exactly the same.

"Damn it!" She muttered, turning and running for the door. She couldn't fight it properly in here, especially if she couldn't see it. But as she approached the door she felt something drag her backwards and slam her against the wall before throwing her to the other side of the room. Her vision faded…

"Hey!" Someone yelled. Faith opened her eyes again.

"Buffy?" Someone was standing in front of her. She was the right size to be Buffy, the same pale golden hair, but the clothes were weird. Off. Then Faith's eyes were drawn to the creature she had been standing in front off. It had a large snake - like body, with human arms extending from where the shoulders broadened. It'd head was shaped like a human skull, the eyes glowing a deep crimson, on top of which sat a tousled mane of auburn hair.

Buffy continued, "Hey ugly! Attacking someone who can't see you? Now, that's playing dirty." Faith watched as Buffy took a swing at the creature with a long, thick, double bladed sword. Faith blinked. She had moved fast. Ridiculously fast, even for a slayer. Well, super Buff could hog the spotlight as much as she wanted, Faith thought as she struggle to her feet. She wasn't going to be shown up a second time.

"Wait." A voice said as Faith took a step forwards. She turned. A short girl with black hair and wearing pajamas stood behind her, arms folded. "Don't get involved. Buffy can handle this."

"Sorry sister, that thing attacked me first. I'll be dammed if I don't land a few punches."

"You don't understand. You won't be able to do any damage, only Buffy's sword can stand a chance. Besides…" The girl's eyes slid to the floor, and Faith followed her gaze, backing away in horror when she say what lay there. "Me? What kind of wacko dream am I having right now?" She gasped. With a jolt she looked down at her own chest and saw a long, grey chain that connected her to her body. It hurt. It made it difficult to breathe. She looked back up a the black haired girl.

"There's not a lot you can do in your current state."

Buffy swung at the hollow over and over, but this one was stronger than the last two she faced. It dodged and weaved around her slashes, making effective counterattacks. It swiped an evil, bony hand at her which she only barely dodged.

"Stop! Stop interfering! Get out of the way!" Hissed a voice. Buffy stumbled. Did the hollow just.. speak? She didn't know they could do that, she assumed they were all dumb animals.

Buffy retreated a couple of steps. "Interfering? Interfering with what?" She demanded, but the creature wasn't listening. It howled horribly and lunged at her again, enraged. Buffy smirked. It's reckless attack had left itself open. She brought her blade crashing down, but there wasn't wrought force to split the mask. Instead, it only cracked.

Rukia stepped forwards and narrowed her eyes. "Not deep enough!"

The three watched the mask chipped, and a chunk of it fell away… revealing a human face beneath. It was a woman. The hollow howled and recoiled, clutching it's head in agony, but this wasn't just the normal cry of a Hollow mingled with the echoing roar, Buffy heard the clear, distinct sound of human screaming. "No way.."

Rukia closed her eyes sadly, saying nothing.

A large red portal opened up behind the writhing creature, swallowing it whole. Rukia opened her eyes again, a grim determination on her face. "It got away. It won't have gone far, we have to find it."

Buffy turned on Rukia in outrage. "Did you not see that? That face was human! Why did it have a human face, what-?"

"When humans are devoured by Hollows, they become Hollows themselves. It's the way hollows are made." Rukia said, looking at Buffy. "Soul Reaper's are taught to always make the first cut deep enough to kill. This is for two reasons; so that the hollow doesn't get away, and so that we never have to see who it is we're killing."

It hit Buffy like a slap in the face. "But.. those are human souls! They.. I've been.."

"They're not human any more." Rukia said softly. "Don't be too alarmed. By killing the hollows using the Zanpakuto, the sins the hollow committed are washed away, and the soul is sent on to the soul society."

"Why…" Faith mumbled, her face pale. Buffy and Rukia turned to look at her. "Buffy.. why did that thing.. have my mom's face?"

"What?" Buffy gasped. Faith looked down at her hands in shock.

"It was her. Mom.." She closed her hands into fists. "Even after she's dead, she can't leave me alone. She just finds more ways to hurt me."

Rukia spoke softly. "I see. That explains why it came after you. When a spirit becomes a hollow, it may seek out it's former family members, people it had strong emotional ties to."

Faith's head snapped up, eyes glowing with rage. "Emotional ties? You're kidding me, right? The only time my 'mom' ever put down the wine bottle long enough to look at me it was to hurt me in another way." She glared at Rukia for a second, then turned to Buffy. "Who's this chick, anyway? Why is my body lying face down in the floor? What's going on with you clothes? _What the hell is going on?_ " She growled. Buffy stepped forwards cautiously.

"I don't have time to explain it all right now. I promise, I promise I will when this is all over, but first we have to find your mom. We have to make sure she doesn't hurt anyone else."

"If anyone kills that bitch, it's gonna be me."

"Faith, you can't. I understand where you're coming from, but-"

"-No Buffy, you don't. You have _no idea_! Don't you dare leave me in the dust! Don't you dare leave me out of this!"

Buffy knew this wasn't going anywhere. She sighed. "I can't promise anything." She muttered before turning back to Rukia. "Any idea where she.. where it would have gone?"

"It will take a second to recuperate. I expect, though, she'll come back to us. Hollows don't scare easily."

Sure enough, a large black and red portal blinked into existence to Buffy's right. Her eyes widened and she began to turn, but not before the hollow came crashing through, catching Buffy with a fearsome blow and sending her flying out the window.

"Buffy!" Rukia yelled, but the Hollow's lashing tail struck her hard, causing her to collapse.

The hollow turned to face the older slayer.

"Faith.." the voice was cold, and rasping.

Faith shivered, losing all confidence. That voice brought back old memories, horrible memories. Suddenly faith was no longer a cool, confident young adult. Hearing that voice made her a child again, lonely and scared. Terrified of upsetting her parents, but knowing nothing she did would make them happy.

"Mom…" She whispered.

The light in the hollow's eyes seemed to dim. "My little Faith. Have you been a good girl? Did you mourn for your mama?" The voice said hauntingly, almost mockingly. Bony arms reached forwards, and massive fingers reached towards Faith. "You haven't been a good girl, have you?"

"Mom, please."

" _'Mom, please'_ " it mimicked Faith. "You always were a whiner. 'Mom, look at what I made!' 'Mom, come and play with me!' So pathetic."

Faith tried to back away and place her hands over her ears, but the Hollow's hand wrapped around her and pinned her arms to her sides. "Did you ever try to find me? After they took you away, did you every think to look?" The hollow's voice had darkened, head lowered. A hint of sadness was blended in.

A spark of fire ignited in Faith's eyes. "Why would I?" She growled, her temper rising as the initial shock dissolved. "Why would I look for a mother who neglected me, abused me? Why would I search for a woman who loved a bottle of wine more than she loved me? Why should I even _care?_ " She spat.

The hands around Faith tightened, and she grunted in pain. "Bad Faith. Who taught to to speak back to your mother like that?"

Faith cried out, then gasped for air. It was getting hard to breathe. The hands tightened around her like a python around it's prey.

Suddenly, Faith could hear someone muttering something from behind the hollow. Was it a spell? An incantation?

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"

The hollow paused, temporarily loosening it's hold on Faith. The spell seemed to reach it's climax.

"Hado number 31! Shakkaho!" There was a flare of red light as something slammed into the hollow's back. It let go of Faith entirely and recoiled away. Rukia jumped up and followed her attack with a severe kick to the head, stunning the creature. She then dropped to the floor and grabbed Faith's hand, pulling her into the next room.

"Faith, listen to me." Rukia said, round on Faith and pushing her against the wall. "That thing in there is not your mother, not anymore. It may have the same memories and the same face, but it's not her. The things she's saying, it's not your mother saying them!"

"Might as well be, it's not a whole lot different from back then."

Rukia slapped her, taking Faith entirely off her guard.

"Wake up! Your mother is dead! Are you going to let this creature shake you up so much? Don't let it get to you!"

Faith never got a chance to reply. The furious hollow slithered around the corner and caught Rukia with a brutal blow that sent her spinning across the room.

"How dare you? Faith is mine! Mine!" The voice was shrill with anger. It raised another hand to deliver a killing blow, but it never came down. A smear of black and gold flew trough the air, and all of a sudden the hollow fell backwards, blood spraying from a gash in it's side. Buffy stood in front of Rukia, panting, her robes and skin torn where the shattered glass of the window had grazed her.

"Faith... doesn't _belong_ to anyone." She said, glaring murderously ahead.

"Buffy.." Faith said, still dazed.

Buffy gripped her Zanpakuto, and ran forwards. However, she was tired and already wounded from the fight. The hollow roared and fought back relentlessly. Faith watched in horror as Buffy was forced into retreat.

Finally she could bear it no longer. She ran to her weapons chest and remove from it an axe. She ran back and stood between Faith and the creature that had once been her mother.

"Faith? No, get out of the way!" Buffy cried.

"What, and miss all the fun?" Faith smirked. "You've hogged the spotlight long enough Buff. Let someone else have a turn."

The red eyes glinted. "Ah, Faith.."

"Don't 'ah, Faith' me! I don't even know you, goddamn it! Maybe I had a mother once, long ago. When I was a tiddler, I remember a mom who actually acted like she cared, just for a bit! I lost that mom to the drink long before the other one died. That mother, the one I'm not ashamed to remember, I know she wouldn't act like this! Don't you dare, don't you even think about trying to tarnish my memory of her!" She bit her lip, her composure slipping as memories of a different life trickled back. Memories of a time before her life got so messed up.

"If… god.. If there's even a bit of the mother I remember in there…"

"Faith…" The hollow froze. Then it started screaming. It recoiled and cried out, lashing about violently. It wrapped a hand around it's mask and pulled, clawing away at it's face frantically. The mask cracked… and disappeared.

Faith stared, unsure of how to feel, how to react. She stated as her mother slowly opened her eyes and looked down at her.

"Faith?" Her eyes widened. The voice no longer raped and grated against the ears. It was soft. Human. "Faith? I…is that… Are you..?"

Faith didn't reply. The axe hung loosely by her side. Her mother's eyes filled with tears.

"My god, Faith. You've grown. You really have.." She moved forwards but as she did Faith took a step back. When she looked at that face, all Faith could see was the drunken alcoholic she had hated so much for so long.

Faith's mother paused, then took a deep breath. "I don't have long. The hollow will take control again eventually, but while I'm here… Faith, I just need to tell you I'm sorry. I never got a chance to say that. You don't need to forgive me. You don't need to even speak to me. I just… I have to let you know. Just know that, even though I wasn't a mother to you… I'm sorry." She smiled. "I'm glad I got to see you just once more, Faith. It's been a long time since I last said this, much too long, but I love you."

She reached down to where Buffy had dropped her Zanpakuto, and picked it up. Buffy made to make a move, but Rukia held her back.

"Wait," She said softly. "Let her do this."

Faith stood motionless, eyes towards the floor, as her mother lifted the blade and pointed it towards her chest. Her mother cast one last look towards her, nodded to Buffy and Rukia before letting it slide into her flesh. A blue glow surrounded her, and her body began to break apart and drift away. Just before she was completely gone, Faith raised her head, staring nonchalantly at her fading mother.

"Bye."

Buffy's Zanpakuto clanked to the ground.

Everything was silent.

 **Thank you for reading this chapter. This was a particularly difficult chapter to write, as I wanted to write Faith an emotional sequence without destroying her character. I may rewrite this chapter at a later date, if it really needs improvement.**

 **I would really appreciate any feedback you have for me. Let me know if you think anything in here needs changing** **.**

 **Thank you very much! I hope to post the next chapter soon!**


	6. The Parakeet

Chapter 6: The Parakeet

* * *

Faith hadn't said much after the incident with her mother. Rukia had helped her spirit return to her body. Buffy had left quietly with Rukia after attempting and failing to comfort Faith, but she was still worried. She was becoming more and more aware at how fragile Faith's mental state was, and she was unsure about the effect recent events may have on her. Hopefully, having a sense of closure would help rather than harm her. Buffy couldn't tell. Faith had been right about one thing; Buffy had no clue what she was going through.

The next week was spent by Buffy by struggling to balance her duties both as a slayer, and now as a substitute Soul Reaper. Rukia was temporarily living with her, unknown to Joyce (Buffy toyed with the idea of telling her mother about recent developments, but ultimately decided that she had enough to worry about), and ensured that Buffy responded to every hollow sighting. As this often ended up interfering with Buffy's training or patrol duties, Rukia and Giles had several heated disagreements, time that Buffy often spent desperately trying to catch up on schoolwork. Buffy had much less time than usual now, considering that she had to be constantly on alert even during daytime. Too often she had to run out of school part way through a lesson in order to prevent a hollow rampaging through the town.

Willow remained oddly withdrawn whenever Rukia was around. Still unsure of how to comfort someone questioning their core beliefs, Buffy could do little more than give her some space. Xander on the other hand was incredibly eager and enthusiastic about their new ally, still smarting from his recent breakup with Cordelia. As time progressed, the group as a whole gradually began to warm to Rukia.

Buffy's prowess as a slayer seemed to carry through to her performance as a Soul Reaper and with Rukia's aid she quickly became an expert with her Zanpakuto. Slaying hollow after hollow, Buffy began to settle into the new routine.

* * *

Elsewhere in Sunnydale a week or so later, Oz and his bandmates were meeting up in a rusty garage for a rehearsal. They were all set and ready to begin, except Devon, their lead singer, had yet to show.

"Man, let's just start without him," the drummer moaned irritably. "It's not as if we need him to just practise the damn music."

Oz glanced up from tuning his guitar. "You sure? We might hurt his feelings."

The drummer squinted at Oz suspiciously, unsure if this was a genuine comment or sarcasm. It was always hard to tell with Oz.

He gave up. "Who cares? He didn't want to be hurt, he should have gotten here on time."

Oz shrugged. "I'm up for it if everyone else is." He glanced around. The other band members nodded.

They were about thirty seconds into playing when Devon strode up the driveway. "Hey, guys! Yeah, yeah, I know I'm late, save the lecture. I swear, when you see what I've got, you'll let it slide." Triumphantly, he held up something in his right hand.

Oz stared at it blankly. "A bird. In a bird cage. Impressive."

"Man, this isn't just any bird! I looked it up, I think it's meant to be a pay-re-kit. "

Oz moved his mouth silently as he tried to decode Devon's speech. "You mean a parakeet?"

"Whatever, that's not important. Look- it talks!"

The bassist glared at Devon angrily. "It's a bloody parrot, man, talking is kinda what they're famous for? Are we gonna practise or-"

"-um. Hello."

Oz blinked. The bird had talked. It didn't sound like a repetition, either. The emotion behind the words was real.

The parakeet looked around at the startled faces shyly. "Um. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to alarm anyone."

"Wow. That's actually not bad." The drummer conceded. Devon beamed.

"See? See? What did I tell you guys?"

"Where'd you get it?" Oz asked cautiously, his mind immedietly zooming between the possible supernatural implications. Devon shrugged.

"Eh, some guys at school were desperate to get rid of it. Saying it was cursed or some shit. Superstitious bastards."

Oz cocked an eyebrow. A cursed, talking bird? Well, this was Sunnydale...

"Hey man, could I borrow it tomorrow? I, uh, have a friend I owe a prank." He asked. Even if this did turn out to be nothing more than a well trained bird, there was no harm in being safe.

"I never took you for a prankster, Oz. Sure, keep it, even. I'd never be bothered to take care of it anyway." He threw his hand up in the air and whooped. "All right! Let's get this session started! Gimme a sec, I just gotta go get some equipment from the car."

He turned and began to walk out the garage. A loud clank in the mechanisms around the garage door was the only warning Oz had, but luckily, it as the only warning he needed. A quick glance at door told him a rope had snapped. The garage door began to fall just as Devon walked under it.

His wolf instincts rapidly took the helm. Oz rushed forwards and tackled Devon to the ground and out of the path of the falling door. It clipped Oz's heels as he went past but did no further harm, hitting the ground with a loud CRASH!

Oz rolled to the side as Devon whimpered in shock, and looked back at the now-closed garage.

 _A curse, huh…_

* * *

The next day just before school began, Oz walked into the library. As he expected, there was Buffy and Willow chatting around the centre table. Buffy looked uncharacteristically down as she spoke, and Willow nodded sympathetically. Oz heard the name 'Faith' muttered a few times.

"Hey." He said, announcing his presence. They looked up. Willow broke out into a smile. "Oz! Great to see you!"

Oz smiled in return. "Yeah, you too. Is everything okay?"

Buffy nodded, forcing the frown from her face. "Yeah, it's been dealt with. What about you, what's... why are you carrying a bird?"

Oz place the cage on the table. "Guys, meet Shibata, the talking parakeet."

"You named the parakeet Shibata?" Willow said.

Oz shook his head. "Nope. Shibata told me his name."

"Hello." The bird chirped. "Mr Daniel Osborne told me about you."

"Daniel Osborne? Who's that?" Buffy frowned.

Oz looked at her. "Um. That's me."

"What? It is?"

"What did you think my full name was?"

"I don't know! Just.. Oz." She shrugged it off. "When did you teach the bird that?"

"I didn't. I told you, it can talk."

Willow stared. "Wait, by talk, you mean.."

"Yeah, I mean real human speak. Not repetitions."

Buffy lowered her head so she was eye level with the parakeet. "Is that really true? Can you really talk?"

The bird appeared to nod. "Yes, miss. I can. Um, that's all right, isn't it?"

"It's fine, don't worry Shibata." Said Oz. He looked around the library "Hey, where's Xander?"

"He's showing Rukia around the school. Just a guess, but I think he's got a little crush on her." Buffy grinned.

Willow paused. "Isn't she about a hundred and fifty?"

"So? Angel was over two hundred."

"Oh yeah…"

Oz blinked. "Um. I feel like I've missed something. Who's Rukia?"

"Oh. You haven't met her, have you? Rukia's a new student. She's also a soul reaper."

"Right. Cool. Okay. A what?"

Buffy sighed. "She… it's a very long story. I'll get you caught up later. Anyways, what's with Shibaba… what's the story with the parakeet?"

"Dev brought him to band practise last night. He mentioned the guys who had him last were desperate to get rid of him and raved that he was cursed. That was right before he was nearly killed by the garage door falling down on top of him."

"The parakeet?"

"No, Devon."

Willow looked back at the little white bird on the table. "What about you, little guy? Anything you can tell us about yourself?" She asked gently.

"It's just as mister says!"

"Is there anything else? I mean, where did you come from?"

"Um, I… there's not really much else to say…"

Buffy narrowed her eyes. "Do you mean you can't tell us? Or won't tell us?"

"Um.." Shibata looked away, and said nothing.

Xander walked through the doors, talking rather enthusiastically to (or rather, at) Rukia, who was smiling politely at his ramblings.

"You've never seen star wars? Wow, you are really missing out!"

"Hah, really? It doesn't seem…" She trailed off as her eyes were drawn to the bird on the table. She walked forwards and examined it critically.

Buffy watched curiously. "Rukia? Is something wrong?"

Rukia straightened and looked at Buffy. "Can't you feel it? Focus."

Buffy frowned but did as Rukia bid her. She looked at the bird again. Rukia was right, there was something off… but she didn't know quite what. She concentrated harder, closing her eyes, and began to feel pulses of energy echoing around the room. Some felt familiar.

 _Is this… am I sensing spirit energy?_

She recognised the presence of her friends, and found that she gained small gleams into their state of mind: Willow sitting at the table behind her, intrigued and alert. Xander out in front, feeling slightly bored yet wary. She could also sense Oz, but his spiritual power was weaker and harder to focus on. However, slicing through the blurry haze, was another completely foreign and unfamiliar energy which radiated off the parakeet in waves. Buffy couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it felt disturbing. Worrying.

She opened her eyes again. The energy which had become almost tangible disappeared instantly. "I felt it. What was that? It was kinda icky."

Rukia assumed a thoughtful expression. "I'm not entirely sure what it is. I do not recognise it." Her eyes slid back to the bird in the cage. "Where did it come from?"

Oz stepped forwards. "Uh, that would be me, I got it. Hi. I don't think we've met." He held out a hand. "It's Rukia, right?"

"Oh. Er, yes." Rukia said, apparently noticing him for the first time. She glanced sideways at Buffy as she gingerly took his hand.

Buffy smiled. "Don't worry, he knows about everything too."

Oz shrugged. "It would be kinda hard not to. I am a werewolf."

"You… what? Really?" Rukia shook her head in disbelief. "Does this place ever run out of surprises?"

"We'll let you know." Xander grinned. "Anyway, I feel like I've missed something. What's the deal with the bird again?"

"It… or maybe he… talks." Oz said. "I was just telling Buffy and Willow, I got it from Devon, who got it from someone else, and so on. I don't know where he comes from originally." He looked down at the little white creature, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Devon was nearly killed last night, after he got the bird. Apparently he wouldn't have been the first of Shibata's owners to die in an accident."

The bird looked up at them with it's small, black eyes. It's beak opened and closed a few times. "Um. I'm sorry." He said, before awkwardly averting his gaze yet again.

"Sounds like we should keep it here, out of the way, until we figure out what's going on." Said Willow, but Oz shook his head.

"Nah. Curse or not, someone should look after him, and if he is dangerous then it's better if he's not around so many people. I can do it."

Buffy's head jerked up. "Are you sure, Oz? I'm don't think that's such a great idea if Devon nearly died…"

"I saved him. Being a werewolf may not be all fun and games, but I do have some wicked reflexes now, I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself well enough."

"If that's the case, surely I would be better suited to looking after it? I am the slayer after all, survival is kinda my specialty."

"You've got enough on your plate." He glanced up at the clock. "School's about to start. Unless anyone's bunking, we should probably get going."

He smiled reassuringly at the rest of the group, then lifted Shibata off the table and moved towards the door. As he walked past Rukia, she narrowed her eyes at his feathered companion. "…be careful. Be very careful." She said softly.

* * *

The rest of the day appeared to pass without incident. Classes ran normally until the end of day bell rang, and the students erratically spilled out of the school.

Buffy approached Rukia, who had seemed distracted all day. "How are you doing?"

"Hm? I'm fine."

"Yeah, you've been hardly paying attention to anything in class 'cos you're 'fine'." She lowered her voice slightly. "How are you recovering? You got any spirit energy back yet?"

Rukia sighed. "I can't tell. It has only been a few days." She smirked. "So eager to get rid of me?"

"Hey, it's not like that. It's just I can tell you're not entirely at ease here. Your home is the soul society, right? It'll be good to go back." Buffy grinned. "Hey, anytime you want to come back to help us slay some bad guys, we'd welcome the help."

Rukia smiled, but with a twinge of sadness. Before Buffy could comment, however, she changed the subject.

"Your friend, Oz. Are you sure he can cope?"

"Well… yeah. Probably. I mean, he's no slayer, but he's Oz. Besides, it's just a bird. What harm could a little bird do to a werewolf?"

"I'm not sure the parakeet itself is the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"The parakeet felt fine. A bit more human than it should, but the dark spirit energy we felt came from something else."

Buffy thought back to the library, when she had felt the energy rushing over her.

"Are you sure?" She said dubiously. "It seemed like it was coming from that bird."

"It wasn't. It was… clinging to Shibata. But it wasn't his. There's more to this than we realise."

Buffy considered Rukia's words as concern for her friend built up inside her. Was Oz in over his head?

"I think…" Buffy began slowly. "I think we should check up on him later tonight. Just to make sure."

* * *

Oz walked home, carrying his guitar case in one hand and the bird cage in the other. As he walked down the darkening streets, he glanced down at the snowy white bird. _Surely this little guy couldn't be all that dangerous._

Shibata looked up at him. "Um, mister? Are you really sure about this? You heard what your friends said about me…"

"I'm sure. It's fine, don't worry. I have a bit of experience with these sorts of things." A woman passing in the opposite direction gave Oz an odd look before averting her gaze and hurrying past.

"I'm sorry mister. I don't want to be a burden."

"You're really polite for a parakeet. Well, I assume you are. I've never actually met a talking bird before. But then, you're not just a bird, are you?"

He stopped at the edge of the road, waiting for the cars to pass by before he attempted to cross.

"Um, well…" Shibata shifted on his perch, and his head swiveled to look behind them. Suddenly his wings started flapping, panicked.

"Mister! Watch out!"

"Huh-?"

Oz started to turn when something slammed into his back, causing him to drop the birdcage and forcing him to stumble off the curb into the path of an oncoming car. Shibata fluttered around as the cage bounced onto the ground. "Mister!"

 _ **CRASH**_

On squealing brakes, the car slammed into Oz and sent him spinning off across the road. He collapsed onto the tarmac, dazed, gritting his teeth with pain. The car had managed to slow down somewhat, but it had still been going at a good twenty miles per hour at least. Despite this, Oz realised that most of the pain he felt was coming from his back rather than where the car had hit him.

 _Huh. That's weird..._ he thought. He was vaguely aware that he taking everything more calmly than he ought to be.

"Oh my god! Oz!" A voice called out in panic. Oz recognised it to be Cordelia.

The man in the car got out, white as a sheet. "Christ.. I didn't mean to! He… he just…"

Fuming, Cordelia turned on him. "He just what? You HIT him! What the hell do you think-"

"Cordelia.." Oz mumbled. "It.. my fault…"

Cordelia ran over to Oz, who was trying to sit up. She caught his shoulders, supporting him. "Hey, hey! What do you think you're doing? Don't..." her eyes widened, staring at the back of his shirt. "Oz... what's that?"

"Huh?"

"What d'you mean, 'huh'? You've got blood seeping through your shirt! God, is it a burn?"

The driver took out his phone. "We gotta get him to a hospital. Now."

"Oh, no, I'm fine." Oz said, shaking himself out of his daze. He hurt a lot, but due to his werewolf constitution nothing seemed too badly damaged. Besides, he strongly suspected something demon had to do with the accident and if so it might not be best to bring it into a crowded hospital.

Cordelia scowled at him. "Fine? Fine? You are so not fine!"

"Cordelia." Oz gave her a look and lowered his voice, so the other man could not hear. "Trust me. A hospital is not a good idea."

Cordelia hesitated. The man watched nervously. "So. Um. Am I calling an ambulance?"

"You heard him, he's fine." Cordelia snapped, helping Oz stand up. "I'll drive him home."

They slowly headed off in the direction of Cordelia's car. As they moved, Cordelia hissed, "Okay, what's going on? I saw you just stumble into the road! What was that about? And why no hospital? You're not gonna wolf out for another week, so it can't be you're worried about that!"

"It's.. a long story…" He panted. They arrived at the car, and Cordelia opened the passenger door and helped him inside.

"I'll go get your things. Ugh, now I have blood on my clothes! I thought I was DONE with this stuff!" She groaned.

They soon arrived back at Oz's house. Cordelia helped him inside and drove off.

Oz put the parakeet down on the table. "I'm sorry mister." The parakeet spoke for the first time since the accident. "It's my fault." He sounded miserable.

Oz sat down slowly. "Can you tell me why you think that? Why do all your owners die? How can you talk?"

Shibata stayed silent.

Oz sat back, resigned. He immedietly regretted it when his injured back pressed up against the fabric of his shirt. "Agh.." He grunted, standing up from the table. His wound burned horribly.

He glanced out of the window. The sun was setting. Soon it would be dark.

"Mister, you should leave me. Get rid of me."

Oz looked back at Shibata. "What are you talking about?"

"It's dangerous having me around. Please mister, please just leave me somewhere."

"Not gonna happen, Shibata. Not until-"

The window shattered with a loud crack, and shards of glass spiralled and spun into the room, a deadly gale of tiny knives. Oz threw his arms up over his face and threw himself behind the table. Blood ran from cuts on his chest and forearms.

"Run, mister! Run!" Shibata cried. Oz grabbed the birdcage and charged out if the house by the back door, sprinting into the night.

Behind him, the air rippled. The faintest chuckle carried away by the cold breeze, as the unseen force lurched after the boy in pursuit.

* * *

Rukia watched soberly as Buffy stared in horror at the room. The window had been blown in, and little shards of bloodied glass littered the kitchen.

"Oz.. dammit! I should never had let him take that bird! We knew there was something wrong with it!" Buffy cursed, her hands curled so tightly her knuckles whitened.

Rukia shook her head. "Don't worry about that now. What matters is that we find them." She turned the corner and looked out if the open back door. "We might be able to follow the blood trail for a bit, but…" She trailed off. No, that wouldn't be enough.

Buffy looked at the soul reaper, her jaw set in determination. After a while, the hint of a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "…we don't need a physical trail to follow..." She began.

Rukia frowned in confusion. _Wait... does she mean to follow the trail of spirit power? No, she couldn't! It's too faint, she couldn't have mastered that after so short a time!_

"You can't mean-"

"Here I go."

Buffy closed her eyes and exhaled softly as Rukia watched in equal parts fascination and disbelief. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then the room seemed to darken, until they were standing in a empty blue abyss, and little fluttering ribbons melted gradually into focus. Rukia gasped. This was a technique that only higher, experienced soul reapers achieved. Buffy had only been a soul reaper for mere days! The ribbons danced, streaming upwards from the ground. Buffy's brow was creased in concentration, her hands spread slightly from her sides. Suddenly her head jerked up and her eyes opened. She snatched at a nearby ribbon.

"Here! This one!" She cried triumphantly. The vision fell away, and they were once again standing in Oz's house.

Buffy wasted no time. Following the trail of spirit pressure, she ran from the room and out of the door, with Rukia close on her heels.

The streets were dark and empty. The occasional car rolled by, but Sunnydale at this time was always quiet. Buffy ran on, focused on the flickering stream of energy that was Oz's limited spirit power. As she ran, she noted with alarm that it was steadily increasing in strength. She hoped this meant she was getting closer, but she knew that it was because Oz was in danger.

There was a scream to her right, coming from the park. She halted and turned. Across the stretch of green she could just make out a young couple being advanced on by a group of imposing, predatory figures.

"Vampires!" She gasped.

Rukia looked over. "Vampires? They..?"

"Yes." She glanced back at the road ahead of her. What should she do? She couldn't leave the vampires to murder someone, but any delay potentially risked Oz's life.

Rukia seemed to sense her desperation. "You do what you have to here. We're close enough now, I can catch up with your friend."

"What? But, I thought you had lost your powers…"

"Yes, but I still have some spirit power left to fight with. Remember your at your friend's place, Faith? I used Kido back then, a soul reaper fighting technique. I should have recovered a bit more spirit power since then. I am not helpless, so do not make that mistake. I will keep us both alive until you catch up. Now, go!"

Buffy hesitated briefly, then nodded. "Okay. Good luck, be careful." She ran off to do her duty as the vampire slayer, leaving Rukia to catch up with Oz and Shibata.

"Hang on, Oz." Buffy muttered under her breath and the wind streamed past her. "Just hang on a bit longer…"


	7. Open the gates of hell

Chapter 7: Open the gates of hell

 **Hello! Just wanted to say a thank you to everyone who's left reviews so far, and also thank you Mari for your suggestions.**

 **In this chapter I have paraphrased or outright taken a lot of lines from the Bleach anime, episode 5. I've tried not to make it too similar to the real episode, but let me know if you feel it's a bit to close to it.**

 **Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Oz was crouched down inside the factory that the vampires had used as their base a year ago. Panting heavily, he listened for any sound that might suggest that their pursuer was closing in. Everything seemed silent enough for now, but that was little comfort. He had run away from crowded areas but he was no longer sure he could survive on his own. No. He needed help. He dug inside his jacket pocket for his phone, and sighed angrily when he realised he had left it in his bag at home.

What should he do? Try and run back to the house? Find Buffy? Leaving the parakeet was out of the question; the more 5 ime Oz spent with the creature, the more certain he was that it was an innocent party. The question still remained as to why Shibata was being chased, however.

Oz winced in pain as his injuries throbbed persistently. He was still bleeding badly and he was getting tired in spite of his extra werewolf stamina. Once this was all over, he was _definitely_ going to a hospital. Assuming, of course, that he didn't pass out and die before then…

* * *

Rukia ran on through the dark streets, the only illumination coming from the occasional street lamp that cast a faint circle flight on the ground. She sighed impatiently. It was so difficult to move in a gigai! If only she could shed the usless shell and run freely, she'd catch up in no time! But she couldn't; without her soul reaper powers she'd be just as vulnerable as your average ghost. At least the gigai offered a bit of protection.

Oz's spirit power was steadily increasing. He was very close now. Rukia rounded a corner and glanced around, scouring the surroundings for any sign of the boy or the parakeet. Or even whatever was chasing them. She was now in a particularly desolate area of the town with shoddy ill-kept buildings on either side of the road. Rukia stopped in front of a ruined factory. Was Oz inside here?

There was a low rasping chuckle from just behind Rukia, who froze in shock.

"What a nice smell. That soul of yours…"

The hollow opened it's mouth and fired a bolt of condensed energy at her, but Rukia sprung out of reach, her feet skimming lightly over the concrete as she rapidly backed away from the looming silhouette. The hollow leered at her hungrily.

"Oh? You can see me? And you won't die from just one shot." It sniffed the air. "A soul reaper? Well, who would have thought that the little runt would have led me to such a delectable meal? I must thank him. Why are you in that body, soul reaper?" It taunted her. "Come out! This won't be any fun, otherwise."

Rukia narrowed her eyes. This one was big, bigger than she had expected. It appeared sentient, too. Maybe she had been a bit rash in insisting on going ahead alone; on one hand she may have delayed it from catching Oz for a bit longer, but on the other she was not entirely sure for how long she'd manage to keep it that way.

Drawing on her limited supply of spirit energy, Rukia ran towards it. It lashed out at her again, laughing, but she spun to the side, launched herself up into the air and delivered a formidable kick to it's white masked head. The hollow grunted and recoiled while Rukia landed lightly to the side, closed her eyes and began to chant,

" _Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws_." She straighted and lifted her palm towards her foe. "Hado number 33, Sōkatsui!"

A flash of blue lighting crashed towards the hollow, slamming into it. As it hit, a cloud of smoke rose that obscured the creature from sight. Rukia breathed out, her heart pounding. _Did I get it?_ Had she recovered enough to kill it? Even if she hadn't quite gained back that much of her power, it should still be enough to-

A figure loomed out of the fog. "Heh, is that the best you can do, Soul Reaper? I barely felt it!" The hollow advanced, completely unharmed by the attack, while Rukia stared in horror.

 _Impossible! There's not a scratch on him! Have I really recovered so little?_ She could hardly believe it. Even after a week she should have recovered enough to do some damage, at least. This was bad. She was in much worse shape than she had thought, and it didn't look like she'd last long without help.

The Hollow giggled maliciously. "It's been too long since I last had a Soul Reaper. I'll make this last." Rukia grit her teeth and backed away, her mind whirring frantically as she tried to come up with a half-decent plan.

"There's a human spirit inside the parakeet, Isn't there? Why are you following it?" She asked demandingly, partly out of curiosity and partly to stall for time.

"Oh, the kid? Maybe I'll tell you, if y-"

A circular section of the wall of the factory was blown out sending a shower of bricks and dust raining down. A grey shape charged out and barrelled right into the hollow. A hurricane of claws and teeth, it tore into it mercilessly despite the Hollow's protesting cries. Eventually, the hollow wrapped one gigantic hand around the assailant and threw it off.

Rukia blinked. It looked like… what was it? A bear? A wolf? It seemed to be a cross between the two. As the creature twisted in the air and scraped it's claws along the road to regain it's footing, Rukia risked a glanced over towards where it had broken out of the wall. Just inside the factory she glimpsed the glinting of the birdcage next to a pile of clothes. She looked back.

"…Oz?" She muttered under her breath. He had told her that he was a werewolf, but she hadn't entirely believed it. She tentatively stepped forwards. Was it still Oz there? Was it still him in control?

The werewolf ignored her utterly, instead focusing all it's animalistic rage on the monster in front of it. It leapt again, claws out, but it no longer had the element of surprise. The hollow swatted it out of the way, then growled in anger and surprise as the werewolf instead latched onto it's arm, snarling all the while.

"What the-? Get.. off!" The hollow yelled. It took a while to dislodge the canine, which immedietly turned back and leapt at it again.

"Fine, then! Try this!"

Rukia glanced up, just in time to see a barrage of frog-like creatures descend on her and Oz. As they landed, Rukia was forced to the ground while the little creatures pinned her down with ridiculous strength. Werewolf Oz strained against the restraints.

The hollow chuckled again and glanced back towards Rukia. "Looks like the shoe's on the other foot." It said gleefully. "You soul reapers are always underestimating us, that's why you always end up like this."

Rukia struggled, but could not move even an inch with these things holding her down. _Dammit!_ she swore inwardly. This really was getting _very_ bad.

"Now, then, who should I eat first?" The hollow sneered. "The wolf seems barely human. Maybe I'll just kill…"

Oz howled in fury, prying his arms away from his sides with great effort. With a final snarl he snapped upwards, tearing the little creatures of him and pulling out clumps of fur in the process.

The hollow stepped back, completely shocked. "What? That's not possible! That can't… how…?"

Werewolf Oz didn't hesitate. Once again he bounded over and tackled the hollow as it tried to retreat, his claws leaving gashes in it's flesh. A fearsome struggle ensued. The hollow was bigger and stronger by all accounts, but Oz made up the difference with pure ferocity.

Gradually, the hollow gained the upper hand. It shook the werewolf off and kicked it away. Oz tumbled over the road and skimmed over the top of Rukia, knocking the frog demons off her. Eventually he came to rest, and didn't move.

Rukia clambered to her feet and ran over to the werewolf. "Oz?" She said, kneeling down beside the large, bulky figure. He seemed to be breathing as far as she could tell. _Good. I think. I don't know if he would have attacked me or not if he had the chance…_

The hollow was glaring at Oz, taking deep ragged breaths. "Ungh. No more playing around with this one, I think." It muttered, advancing menacingly.

Rukia stood up and whirled to face it, determined not to let it win just yet.

"Hado number 33! Sōkatsui!" She cried as the blue lighting basted towards the target. Rukia knew now it would do little damage, but that was okay. She just needed to delay it. Just a bit longer…

The hollow growled, clearly irritated. "Stop it!"

Rukia ran forwards in an attempt to get a physical hit in, when suddenly more of the small frog creatures appeared before her. Unlike last time, the bulbous sacs on their heads opened, and a shower of small pink leeches spurted towards Rukia. As they hit, Rukia staggered backwards. They clung to her clothes, skin and hair. No matter how hard Rukia pulled, they refused to budge.

"Eurgh, what…?" She mumbled as she struggled.

"That's better. Much better. They won't come off easily…" The hollow announced cheerfully. It opened it's mouth and a thin forked tongue appeared from inside. It shook rapidly in the air, producing a high pitched screeching sound.

The leeches on Rukia exploded, each small detonation as fierce as a gunshot that reverberated throughout her body. Gasping in pain, she fell to her knees.

"Are you surprised? Those leeches are small bombs. They respond to the vibrations from my tongue and explode! Your guard was wide open." The hollow mocked her. As she struggled upright.

 _Damn, that hurt… I can't take many more hits like that._

"Now, run! Let me enjoy hunting you down, little soul reaper!"

Rukia cast a look towards the werewolf's limp form. She had too little strength to fight on her own, and she was being worn down fast. If she stayed here, she couldn't guarantee that she'd be able to protect Oz and stay alive at the same time. It was horribly frustrating to turn and flee but at the moment she saw no other option.

She ran, praying that the hollow would follow her and leave Oz alone but not daring to glance over her shoulder in case it slowed her down too much.

 _Come on, Buffy. What's keeping you?_

She ran through the thankfully empty streets, the heavy thuds of the Hollow's footsteps echoing behind. She sent out her mind and searched for Buffy's spirit power, then grinned inwardly. The girl was making no attempt to hide or even reduce the amount of spirit pressure she sent out. That might be something that needs to be addressed in the future. Buffy was drawing nearer. Rukia turned through the streets to follow the trail. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed a small green shape draw level with her. The swollen sac opened…

Rukia dodged away as the stream of pink leeches passed by her. She turned to run down a nearby alley but another of the creatures lept up, cutting her off. Caught by surprise, Rukia had no time to reach before she was pelted by a barrage of leeches.

"Shit..!" She managed before a familiar ringing filled her ears and the leeches exploded. This time it broke the skin on her arm, and little drops of red fell to the ground. The hollow laughed again, but Rukia didn't wait. As soon as she had the ground under her feet again, she kept running.

"Hey, hey! How long are you going to keep running for? You can turn around and attack me if you want!" The hollow called out tauntingly, but Rukia ignored it.

After a bit longer, Rukia halted suddenly. Suspicious, the hollow paused. "Huh? What is it? Are you giving up?"

Rukia's mouth turned up ever so slightly at the corners. "I haven't given up. I simply have no need to run anymore."

"Wha-?"

The hollow's reply was cut off as Buffy leapt in front and delivered a fearsome punch to it's head, sending it flying backwards.

* * *

Buffy clutched her fist in pain. "Ow! Shit! That.. that hurt. Probably wasn't the smartest idea to try that on the head. What is that mask made of anyway, steel?" She turned and grinned at Rukia. "Hey! You okay?"

Rukia smiled back. "Of course. Glad to see you made it, though."

"Sorry I made you wait." Buffy's expression hardened. "What about Oz? Is he okay?"

"I'm not sure." Rukia admitted. "He transformed and tried to fight it. He did well, but got knocked out. I didn't have time to-"

"Wait, wait. Oz transformed? Into a werewolf? But there's no full moon for another week! He can't do it on command!" Buffy replied in confusion.

"He… can't? It was him, I'm sure." Rukia said slowly. What did this mean? If he usually only transformed around the full moon, what could have triggered it this time?

"Hey.." the hollow growled furiously. The two others look at it. "How long are you going to ignore me, huh?!"

"Oh, yeah." Buffy turned back to Rukia and spread her hands. "Rukia. I seem to be lacking a Zanpakuto at the moment. Would you please do the honours?"

Rukia pulled the red glove onto her hand. "It would be my pleasure."

* * *

Oz opened his eyes wearily. He was cold, and he hurt like hell. There seemed to be less blood than there should have been.. He sat bolt upright. And looked down. He was naked. He glanced up at the sky in confusion but sure enough the moon was nowhere near full.

"Huh. Okay…"

He stood up hesitantly and looked around. He was out in the open, just outside the factory. The last thing he remembered he was sitting inside, losing consciousness. He hesitantly walked inside, grateful beyond words that there was no one around. Sure enough, there were his clothes in a pile beside the birdcage. Shibata looked up at him with relief.

"Mister! Are you okay? I saw… what happened to you?"

Oz knelt down and began getting dressed. "Yeah, about that… you remember me telling Rukia I was a werewolf? I wasn't lying."

"Oh." Shibata stared at him. Oz cast the bird an amused glance.

"Come on, it's not as if you have an excuse to be so shocked. You're a talking bird."

He finished getting dressed. His clothes were torn but held together well enough to cover him.

"What happened here anyway?"

"He caught up with us. Your friend was fighting him, and then you… changed. He knocked you out, mister, then chased your friend away. I think she's in trouble!"

"My friend? Was it Buffy? Blonde hair?"

"Um. No. She had black hair."

Oz paused. A few minutes ago he had been running for his life away from it, but could he really just leave Rukia? If he could help out, he ought to at least try. He made up his mind and picked up the birdcage.

It was easy to follow the trail of rubble and destruction that the hollow had caused on it's rampage through town. Within minutes, they caught up with Rukia. She was standing with her back to them, watching the seeming empty street intensely. Behind her lay Buffy's motionless body.

"Buffy!" Oz called and ran over. Rukia turned.

"Don't worry. She's fine."

"What's wrong with her?"

A puzzled expression flashed over Rukia's features and she glanced back at the empty street. "You can't see?"

"See? See what?" He looked over her shoulder, and gasped. Now that he looked, he could see. He saw Buffy clad all in black, wielding a double-bladed sword about as long as she was. Over her loomed a massive monstrous shape, but to Oz's surprise it seemed to actually be on the defensive.

"What is that?"

"That is a hollow. That is what nearly killed you."

* * *

Buffy slashed away. The hollow was surprisingly spry and kept moving out of reach, counterattacking with the leech bombs. Buffy sliced up any that came close and vaulted away from them before they exploded. With Slayer and Soul Reaper powers combined, she moved rapidly and attacked with monstrous strength. Seemingly effortlessly, she backed the hollow into a corner. She brought down her Zanpakuto but brought it still before it cut into the Hollow.

"Before I kill you, I want some answers about what the hell is going on. The parakeet… there's a kid in there, isn't there? What happened? Why do you follow it around?"

"Oh? You figured out about the brat, eh? Well, I'm the one who killed the kid's parents."

"What?"

"When I was still alive, that is. Heh, I was a serial killer. I was famous, it was all over TV! The kid's mother was my last victim, if you must know. It was so much fun. She ran as hard as she could and even when she had no breath left, she still tried to protect her kid. That's where it all went wrong. I had chased her up a couple of storeys, and then the damn kid caught my shoelaces. Fell to my death. Who'd have thought I'd get killed by a slip up like that?"

As the hollow spoke, Buffy felt a cold chill spread throughout her body. He was relishing in the memory to killing. This… this thing.. was truly a monster, as both Hollow and human.

The Hollow continued; "The kid survived, so I punished him by putting his soul into the parakeet and I told him that if he could run around in that form for three months, I would bring his dear mother back to life."

"Back to life? You couldn't.."

"Of course I couldn't! The kid believed me though. So he ran. As a bonus I got to kill off everyone and anyone who tried to protect him. He'd complain each time, say he didn't wanna do it anymore. All I had to do was remind him, 'Your mother is waiting for you to save her!' Worked every time."

Rage built up inside Buffy. He had not only murdered Shibata's family, he was manipulating him in the most disgusting manner imaginable! Using the memory of his dead mother, promising to resurrect her? It was completely and utterly unforgivable.

"How could you? Murder is bad enough…"

"How could I. Because it's fun! Besides…" He lept away and opened his mouth. "You've let your guard do-" before he got a chance to do anything, Buffy sprang after him, dodging flawlessly around the attacks launched at her by the small frogs, and sped forwards until she was an inch away from the hollow's face.

"Wrong. I've been fighting scum worse than you for over three years now. I know when to let my guard down. That wasn't it." She neatly brought her sword down, splitting the mask through the middle as the Hollow let out a blood curdling shriek.

She landed neatly and went to sheath her sword, but frowned when she realised the hollow wasn't fading away. It was still crying, suspended in mid air. As she watched, a blue green light shone from the cut and suddenly the hollow's head jerked back and the light arched up into the air. It rose and an eerie red glow appeared around it. The light became stronger and stronger, casting the whole area in a crimson shadow. A massive deep violet door faded into sight, bound with chains and adorned with two massive skeletons, one on each side.

Rukia appeared beside her, with Oz hovering uncertainly behind. "The gates of hell. The Zanpakuto can only wash away sins committed after death. For those who have committed grievous sins in life, the gates of hell open for them." She explained solemnly, watching the spectacle with a grim expression.

The doors slowly slid back, revealing a swirling dark abyss beyond it. A spear slid out and skewered the hollow as it groaned in agony, before silently sliding back into the darkness and pulling the hollow with it. The doors creaked back into their original places. They cracked, and shattered.

The red glow faded. Everything returned to normal.

* * *

Buffy took a step backwards. "So… that's it? He's gone?"

Rukia nodded. "Yes. He's gone." She turned to face Oz and Shibata.

The birdcage was on the ground, and the parakeet had his head bowed. "I'm sorry. It's my fault everyone got hurt. I just wanted my mom to come back."

Buffy knelt down in front of him. "Don't think that. It's not your fault, okay? You didn't do anything wrong. It was all him."

"But I-"

"Hey. Not your fault." Buffy smiled reassuringly.

Rukia also crouched down. "Shibata, you never actually died, did you? That hollow said he took your soul out of your body."

"They can do that?" Oz asked with concern.

Rukia shrugged. "Well. Apparently." She held out a hand towards the birdcage. After a few moments she took it away. "It's unfortunate, but I can't detect his chain of fate. It's been severed."

Buffy frowned. "Chain of fate?"

"It is what connects the soul to the body. As a soul reaper you don't have one, but remember your friend Faith? When in soul form, she had a chain connecting her to her physical body. But if it's severed, the soul can never return."

"That means.." Buffy trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

"No.." Shibata said quietly.

Rukia forced a cheerful smile. "Don't worry! The soul society isn't a scary place. You don't get hungry, and your body feels really light. You might find you prefer it, in fact."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. Besides, even if that's not all it's cracked up to be, you could see your mother again."

Shibata's eyes lit up. "…Really?"

Buffy glanced sideways at Rukia. "Well.. I assume that's how it works." She said. Rukia nodded.

Shibata looked at Oz. "Thank you for everything, mister. Thanks to you, I never got hurt."

Oz smiled. "Anytime. Good luck over there. I guess I see you when I pass over myself."

Shibata closed his eyes. "Well… I guess I'll be going now." The ghostly image if a young boy appeared beside the cage, and opened his eyes.

Buffy stood up straight and drew her Zanpakuto. "I guess it's time for the soul burial then. See you later, Shibata."

"Yeah!"

Buffy gently brought down the sword, touching the end of the hilt to Shibata's forehead. He was swallowed by the glow of bright blue light.


	8. The Falling Sky, Part 1

**Hello! I hope everyone had a great holiday! I took a break for Christmas and the new year, but hopefully I should be updating fairly regularly from now (unless my workload or writers block gets too bad). I'll be aiming to update at least once a month, or more.  
Thanks for reading the new chapter of Slayer and Soul Reaper.**

Chapter 8: The Falling Sky, Part 1

* * *

Oz walked back to his house on his own that evening, despite Buffy's protests. They were all a little unsure and shaken up about how Oz could transform on a night other then the full moon, agreeing to discuss it with the others at a later date.

Buffy returned her soul to her body, and she and Rukia walked through the park heading back towards the house.

* * *

As they went, Buffy glanced at Rukia. "You held your own against that thing for a pretty long time. Did you get a sense of how much spirit energy you've recovered?"

"Yes… it's taking longer than I would have thought. Much longer." Rukia looked down. "There wasn't much I could do other than run. My Sōkatsui had virtually no effect."

"Sōkatsui, that's the flashy blue one, right?"

Rukia smiled. "There are a few 'flashy blue ones', Buffy. But that is one of them. Yes."

They walked onwards in silence a bit further. Then Buffy said, "Hey, Y'know Willow? I'm a bit worried about her."

"Oh? Why?"

"Well… look. She's Jewish, she has a faith. And I think that since meeting you and discovering that your stuff is all real…"

"… She's calling everything into question." Rukia finished for her. "Yes. I'm not surprised."

"You're not?"

"Not at all. It is a fairly common thing among those who come to the soul society for the first time. They've spent their whole lives believing one thing, putting all their trust into a particular deity, or deities, and then to discover it's different... It's hard for some people."

Buffy listened carefully. "If it's something you've come across before.. I don't know, could you talk to her? I would, but… well, this is something I don't really know how to talk about."

"I will. Of course."

Buffy smiled in relief. "Thanks. Really, thank you."

* * *

A little way off, two men watched them walk away across the park. The first, a blonde haired man with a green striped hat and a walking cane turned to his friend. "Well. I think she's nearly ready. What about you, Tessai?"

The first was fairly tall, but even he was dwarfed by his gigantic comrade. "The girl is used to fighting, that is plain to see. I agree, she's ready to be tested."

"Wonderful. I suppose we ought to get on with it then."

"Tonight, Urahara? So soon after that last fight?"

"I'm sure she'll cope. She is a slayer after all, let's see if she can live up to her title." The man addressed as Urahara looked up at the sky. "Besides, her friends need to stop relying on her so much. They have powers of their own and it's about time they learnt how to use it."

* * *

Willow sat on her bed, watching as her pens floated lazily in the air in front of her. Xander was supposed to be coming round this evening so she could help him catch up with some history, but he was already nearly twenty minutes late. Probably stalling as long as possible to avoid spending too much time on the civil war.

A ghost of a young woman floated in through the wall, glanced at her, and floated out again. Willow sighed. She wished she could go back to before she could see them, before she knew they were even there. The alarming rate at which ghosts wandered into her house and particularly her bedroom made her very uneasy , and also ensured she never quite took off all her clothes anymore. She concentrated, waved her hand and brought her notebook floating up onto the desk at the other side of the room. She sent a pen after it and carefully willed the lid off the tip, and began writing. Since gaining the ability to see ghosts, her magic abilities seemed to have increased as well. She had more power now and everything was a little bit easier. It was like she had been wading through a stream with the current pushing her backwards every time she tried to use magic, whereas now the water had gone and she could finally move freely. With a flourish of her hand she brought the notebook back towards her. Looking at the page, she grimaced as her eyes fell upon the messy squiggly lines that looked nothing like writing. Was she more powerful? Yes, but her precision could still use some work.

She let them fall to the floor, and looked out the window. So, the afterlife was a thing. She was still trying to come to terms with that. Maybe it didn't make a difference, maybe there was still room for her to believe in something. A knot was twisting in her stomach as she thought about it.

 _Stupid. You're being stupid._ she chided herself. There was nothing to get worked up over. She had been experiencing the paranormal on a daily basis for years now, by all accounts this was business as normal… so then why did it feel so… wrong?

The sun had set a little while ago. Maybe it was a bad idea to let Xander walk around out there alone.

The doorbell rang. Willow jumped up. _Finally! It's about time!_ she hurried downstairs to answer the door.

She opened it, preparing an chiding speech in her head about showing up at the right time, but stopped when she saw who was really at the door. The man was dressed quite bizarrely, in a dark green robe and wooden sandals that clanked against the hard ground. He wore a green and white striped hat that shaded his eyes.

"Oh." Willow said, her shoulders slumping. "Hi. Can I help you?"

"Oh, my! I'm terribly sorry, I believe I must have the wrong house! I don't suppose you know where Miss… ah.. Summers lives, do you?"

Willow blinked. Buffy? She lived halfway across town. This guy must be really bad at directions.

"Uh, yeah, I know her. Um. I guess you must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, she lives over in-"

"-oh, well! I must be going now. Could you please deliver this to her when you next see her?" He smiled and produced a small package, bound in brown paper and string.

Willow took it hesitantly. "Sure.. I guess… sorry, but who-?"

"Thank you, Miss Rosenberg. Goodbye, now!" He said before turning and striding away.

Willow let the door fall shut. Well. That was weird. She looked down at the package in her hands. Someone wanted to deliver something to Buffy, and they just happened to turn up at her best friend's house? That was very suspicious.

She put down the parcel on a nearby table and flung open the front door. She ran outside an looked left and right, but the man was nowhere to be seen. She paused for a moment thinking about what to do, before going back inside again and shutting the door. Nothing really to do about it now then. All she could do is take it into school tomorrow and show Buffy. Maybe she'll know what to do. As she walked upstairs again, a realisation hit her.

 _Hang on… how did he know my name?_

* * *

Xander hurried through the streets. He had fallen asleep in front of the TV, woken up fifteen minutes after he had agreed to be a Willow's place. Not only was he late, it was dark too. It had been bad enough knowing that there were vampires stalking through the shadows, but somehow the ghosts managed to take it to a whole new level of creepy. On top of all that, something else had happened that day which had disturbed him...

 _Ten minutes earlier, Xander struggled into his jacket and smoothed down his hair, turning over the room in a desperate attempt to find the few sheets of history classwork he had managed to complete. Running out of the house he nearly ran right into his father, whose cheeks bore the telltale red tinge of heavy alcohol consumption. His eyes were unfocused and cloudy and he leaned unsteadily to one side. Xander tensed, automatically readying himself for whatever verbal abuse he would receive this time, but unusually none came. Instead, Anthony Harris stared at his son for a second, before glancing up to the sky uneasily._

 _"Oh… Alexander.." He slurred. "Where are you going?"_

 _"Out." Xander replied curtly, longing to slip past and escape the confrontation._

 _The elder Harris looked upwards again. "Oh. Really? Tonight? I'm not sure… how about you stay in?"_

 _Xander frowned. Since when did his father care how he spent his time? It's not as if he had ever shown much interest before._

 _"I can't. I promised Willow. Look- I'm already late, can I go?"_

 _"Go? Oh… yeah. Sure. Just- one second…" He reached into a pocket and rooted around before drawing out a small bracelet, A cross that hung on a plain string. He reached out and took Xander's unresisting arm, fastening it across his wrist while Xander stared down at it blankly, seemingly concerned that the slightest movement might break whatever spell was causing his father to behave in such a way._

 _"There. Just… just keep that. Keep it on, yeah? Just…" He faltered and looked upwards once more before quietly moving past Xander and shutting the door behind him._

"What the hell was that all about, anyway?" Xander muttered, fiddling with the cross on his wrist. It was just so sudden, so out of the blue.

As he walked, a man in a green coat bumped into him, nearly tripping over his cane.

"My fault. Sorry about that." The man said with a friendly smile before sweeping away.

Xander shrugged and continued onwards. As he went, a familiar dark figure came into sight.

"Xander?"

"Oh, if it isn't vampire boy. What are you doing here, Angel?"

"I was going down to the butchers to get some blood. Met a couple of vampires on the way. Isn't Buffy supposed to be patrolling tonight? How'd they get past her?"

"She was probably torn away by her other paranormal slaying duty." Xander replied.

Angel frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Y'know. The hollows, her being a soul reaper and everything, and… and… you don't know do you?" Xander's face broke out into an unusually malign grin. "Heh. Guess Buffy didn't think you needed to be involved, huh?"

Angel ignored the jibe. He and Xander shared a mutual distaste for each other, but the difference was Angel didn't feel the need to flourish it at every opportunity. "Soul reaper? That... that' s familiar.." He said, thinking back to the week before, when he had encountered Buffy in the graveyard.

"Yeah, Buff's a double threat now. Got these fancy Soul reaper powers now. Of course, that means less time for slaying and as you can imagine, Giles is super not happy with that. Faith seems to be sulking or something, I don't know, but I haven't seen her recently either. Anyway, I gotta go now." He turned to walk away, but Angel called out to him.

"Hey, wait! What's that?"

"Huh? What?"

"In your coat, in the pocket."

Xander looked down. There was a small package inside his pocket which he didn't recognise. He frowned.

"Where did that-?"

An echoing roar was carried on the wind towards them. Xander paled; he had heard that before.

Angel looked around. "What was that?"

"We need to find Buffy or Rukia. Now! They're the only ones who-" Xander was cut off by a second roar. It was a hollow, but different to the first. As he listened, more on more roars could be heard in the distance.

"What the hell?" He muttered in horror. They were everywhere.

Xander took the small package out of his pocket and unwrapped it. Inside was a box which he then opened to reveal a small white capsule.

"What is this?"

He looked at the box a second time. There was a label stuck across it, that read simply,

 ** _HOLLOW BAIT_**

* * *

Oz had just got home when he heard the first Hollow. He paused outside his front door and looked around anxiously. He was still badly injured, he couldn't risk another encounter. Across the street he saw the lumbering figure of a Hollow. He backed away, deciding that retreating into an enclosed space probably wouldn't work in his favour.

With a start, he realised the hollow wasn't looking at him. It was walking towards a young woman who was approaching Oz from the other direction.

"Cordelia?"

She strode up to him, completely oblivious to the imminent danger. "Oz, I know you said you were fine for now, but, well, seriously? I just turned up to say, go to the damn hospital already!"

"Cordelia, not now!"

"Why not, huh? What is so important that you're willing to risk a broken-" She was cut off as Oz pulled her to one side, out of the way of the hollow as it's fist came rushing down onto the road.

"What..?" Mumbled Cordelia as she stared in shock at the massive crack that had appeared on the ground where they had been stood second before.

"Cordelia, run! Don't ask, just run!" Oz yelled. Cordelia nodded mutely and fled. She had been in enough of these situations to know when was a good time to stop asking questions.

Oz was caught off guard by a blow that sent him flying into the wall of his house. He fell to the ground and as he did, he felt his skin ripple and warp. It took him a second to realise what was happening.

"I… I'm changing? Twice in one night. With no moon? What is going on?"

He felt his teeth lengthen and his nails grow. He groaned as thick, coarse hairs pushed their way up through his skin and his spine twisted, forcing him to hutch over. It hit him that he had never been concious so far into the transformation before.

When it was done, Oz opened his wolf - like eyes. _Well… this is new..._ he thought. He was a wolf, and yet… still Oz. His mind was his own, and for the first time he could feel the power that this form possessed. And it felt pretty damn good.

He looked at the hollow, all fear and sense of caution had evaporated. He charged and leapt, latching on to the creature's skin, wolf instincts propelling him forwards and telling him what to do next. He tore away at it, much like he had with the last hollow he fought in wolf form. The difference this time was that retaining at least some of his human mind allowed him a sense of strategy; whenever the hollow made a grab for him, he simply shifted his position and went on fighting. The hollow became worn down, eventually so much so it barely had the energy to loft it's arms to defend itself. Oz sized the opportunity, and ripped the hollow's mask from it's face.

As the hollow disintegrated into nothing, Oz fell to the ground. The wolf's blood-lust was overpowering. Oz heard the cries of the other hollows and grinned toothily. Best find some more prey, then.

* * *

Willow cried out in shock when she saw the huge masked face at her window, and ran out of the room.

 _Hollows? So many of them?_

She was on her own. No Buffy or Angel or Rukia or even Giles to take command and do the fighting. She flew down the stairs and paused uncertainly in the kitchen, internally debating what would be the best course of action from here. The house rattled as the hollow chasing her slammed against the building. This put an end to her doubts, and she fled from the house.

As she ran across the grass, she came face to face with another Hollow. This was a smaller one, but Willow was sure it was no less deadly. She tried to run past it, but it lashed out at her with a tentacle-like protrusion, tripping her. Willow scrambled away as the two hollows approached. Glancing back Willow realised that the Hollows had been congregating around her house. One by one, then hollows that were still investigating her home turned to look at her.

Desperately she clambered to her feet and tried to run again, but the Hollow had caught up. A lash across her back sent her sprawling to the side. They were closing in now. Willow felt the adrenaline build up in her body as her mind went blank. The nearest hollow began to open it's horrible mouth, and leaned in.

Acting purely on instinct, Willow held up a hand in front of her to shield her from her attacker… and the pent up tension she had been hoarding vanished suddenly, her limbs relaxing of their own accord. The hollow roared, and Willow took her hand away from her eyes just in time to see it stagger backwards, smoke billowing from it's mouth. Cracks spread outward from it's teeth across it's face, and the hollow disappeared. Willow blinked, unable to move.

 _Did… did I just..?_

She looked at her hand. She hadn't felt herself use magic. It hadn't felt the same as it did when she was floating pencils, or even as when she returned Angel's soul. Instead she had felt something.. a bit different. It was as if she had expelled some of her own energy, energy that was a part of her as opposed to magic energy, which was a foreign entity.

The enraged roars of the other hollows drew her back to the present. She stood up and faced them, if a little uncertainly. As they stalked towards her, Willow swallowed her fear and held up her hands towards them, praying that it would work a second time. She closed her eyes.

 _What do I do? I know how to summon magic, but my limited skills with that won't be enough here. But how do I summon the other energy when I don't even know what it is_?

She began to panic. Anxiety swept through her and just then, she sensed something riding along the wave of adrenaline.

 _There! Is that it? It feels a bit it like magic, but more familiar. Now, how do I harness it? How-_

Her eyes opened in alarm. Another large hollow had approached her and took a swing at her. Acting on instinct, she drew up the mysterious energy inside her and in her mind's eye melded it into a protective wall, shielding her from the blow. The hollow's hand struck something in the air, a shimmering wall the glowed faintly blue. Willow grinned triumphantly.

 _I was paying attention that time. I felt it. I think I can do this._

* * *

"Angel, it's to your left! Run!" Xander yelled at the vampire. Angel dived away to the right, narrowly avoiding the hollow's strike.

"Shit.." He cursed, backing away and frantically looking left and right. "Why is it invisible? Why can't I see it?" He cast a suspicious look towards Xander. "Why can _you_ see it?"

"Don't worry, if this keeps up it won't stay invisible to you for long." Xander muttered. "Come on, we can't fight it. All we can do here is run."

"What? Xander, what the hell is going on?"

"It's a long story, and one we REALLY don't have time for right now! I'll explain later!" He turned to run. If he was entirely honest with himself, he didn't really care if Angel followed him or not. As a vampire, he'd probably survive on his own. Probably.

To his disappointment, Angel followed his lead and ran along beside him. "Okay, do you have any idea what we do next?"

"Er- hope we lose it?"

Angel sighed. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me…" He muttered angrily and cast a look over his shoulder. He may not be able to see the creature itself, but he could see the destruction it was causing the surroundings as it pursued them. "Buffy's place is too far away, it'll catch up with us before then."

Xander grit his teeth. Was there nothing he could do? He was sick of being the useless one, even Willow was learning magic. Now he was running scared, with no plan except to get Buffy to bail him out of trouble yet again. It didn't even seem like that would work now.

He became aware of a tingle in his left arm. Without slowing, he brought his arm up in front of his face and looked at it. The cross that hung off his wrist was glowing faintly. As he watched it got brighter and brighter, until the blue light enveloped his entire hand.

"Whoa… Whoa! Um. Right. Okay. Angel?"

"What now…?" Angel's eyes widened as he noticed. "What are you doing? What's happening?"

"Nothing! I'm not doing anything! It's not me! I- argh!"

He stopped running and clutched at his arm as a jolt of pain ran through it. Angel tried to pull him forwards, but the growing agony distracted him from the vampire's urgency. The light grew brighter and began to form a shape around his hand, long and curved.

Angel narrowed his eyes. "That looks like-"

A bolt of blue energy shot out from the centre, hitting the advancing hollow in the leg. It growled and collapsed while Xander and Angel stared in shock.

"It is!" Angel exclaimed. "It's a bow!"

"What? Why do I have a mystical glowey bow? I don't want it! Here, you take-" He yelped as another missile launched itself from the end of the bow. It crashed into the ground a few feet away, and left a smoking crater.

"That wasn't me!" He gabbled in surprise. "I didn't mean to-!"

"Just shut up and point it over there!" Angel yelled, roughly grabbing Xander's arm and pulling it up to point at the hollow.

"Ouch! Watch it, vamp, or I'll-"

"Keep still, moron!"

The bow discharged a third time, and the shimmering blue energy blasted a hole in the hollow's face. It roared in pain as it gradually disappeared from sight.

After a tense moment of silence, Xander glanced down at his arm. Now that he had calmed down, the bow seemed a lot more stable. The flickering pulsating light had stilled. He waved it around a bit. It wasn't discharging on it's own anymore either. With a bit of concentration, the glow faded.

For the first time, Angel noticed the cross. "I didn't know you were religious."

"Oh, I'm not. I got it from… my dad…" Xander trailed off and frowned. "But why..? What would dad be doing with this?" He muttered, staring at the cross.

Angel glanced around. "I think there's more of them coming. That thing you did back there, can you do it again?"

"Uh… dunno. I'm not sure how it happened the first time." Xander's head shot up. "Hang on. You saw it?"

"Not really a surprise, is it? The more danger you were in, the clearer you can see them. That's it, isn't it? Actually I'm pretty surprised that whole town can't see them by now considering the stuff we get out here."

"Yeah, I guess." Xander was staring at the cross again. "Hey… if I can make it work again, maybe we don't need to find Buff after all. Maybe.. maybe I could actually fight them by myself."

They exchanged a glance. Angel raised an eyebrow.

"You still wanna get Buffy to handle this, huh?"

"Damn straight."


	9. The Falling Sky, Part 2

Chapter 9: The Falling Sky, Part 2

* * *

Pacing the room, Rukia stared in dismay at her phone, which flashed and beeped relentlessly. "No way."

Buffy glanced over her shoulder at the soul reaper, but did not stand up from where she lay in her bed. "That means a Hollow, doesn't it? Geez, can I have a rest for five minutes? That's all I ask!"

"It's not just one hollow, Buffy. There's tons of them! Eleven, no, thirteen… hang on…" She frowned. "That's really weird. They're appearing at such a fast rate yet they're disappearing again almost as fast. Someone's killing them off."

"Hang on, so I'm not the only Hollow killer around here? Why the hell have I been spending so much time and energy running after those things if there was someone else to take care of it?" Buffy asked, sitting upright.

"There shouldn't be anyone else! No one. Unless…" Rukia grimaced.

Buffy watched her face suspiciously. "Unless what?"

"No. He wouldn't." Rukia muttered to herself. "Why would he interfere? After so long?"

"Who's this 'he'? What aren't you telling me?"

"It doesn't matter." She grabbed the red skull glove. "We have to go."

Buffy groaned in exasperation. "Again? Really?"

"Oh, be quiet. You agreed to this. Besides, there's something weird going on."

"Story of my life." Buffy grumbled, standing up off the bed. "Fine. Let's go."

As soon as she said those words, she heard shouting from outside. Someone was calling her name. Startled, she went over to the window and peered out, and saw Angel and Xander running towards the house. She opened the window and leaned out.

"Angel, Xander! What's wrong?"

Xander beamed. "Thank god you're in Buff. Those things- they're everywhere! All over Sunnydale!"

"Yeah, I know. I was just about to get going. Are you two okay? Are you hurt?" She said, climbing out of the window and vaulting onto the ground in front of them while Rukia followed.

Angel shook his head and replied, "No. We were attacked, but then Xander… Well, actually I'm not really sure what happened."

Xander took over. "I, uh, heh, I guess I killed it."

"You? Really?" Rukia replied doubtfully.

"Hey, don't diss the Xan-man! I'll have you know I'm very experienced in demonology."

Angel coughed, choking back a laugh. Buffy smiled. "Yeah.. you've got a PHD in demon slayage. In that case, why did you need me?"

"Well, you know… give the amateurs a chance."

"Of course." Buffy's face darkened. "Seriously though, what happened?"

"I don't know. We were running from it, and then suddenly I've got this big blue glowy bow thing."

Rukia's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah. I couldn't really control it properly, but somehow I managed to shoot the hollow and kill it." He shrugged. "Beats me how it happened."

"Well, we'll figure it out later. We don't have time right now." Buffy turned to Rukia. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Rukia complied, slamming her open palm into Buffy's chest and dragging her soul out, a spectacle that Angel was entirely unprepared for.

The vampire took a step back. "What..? Um. How-?" He stammered, glancing between Buffy's limp human body and her soul form.

Buffy glanced at him in surprise. "Oh, you can see me?"

"Yes… I'm sorry, but what did you just do?"

"This is me in pure soul form." She said, crouching down and lifting her body up by the shoulders. "I've got to run now. Can you guys take my body back up to my room? I still haven't told Mom, and I don't want her to freak. Just make it look like I'm asleep, in case she wakes up and comes in."

Xander nodded, but Angel paused. "No, I'll come with you and help-"

"No Angel, you need to stay back for this one. I'm afraid vampire strength won't be enough here, even I couldn't put a dent in a Hollow without soul reaper powers. Please, just make sure Mom stays safe."

Angel nodded silently, his expression wooden.

"Xander, do you know where Willow is?"

"Yeah, she should be at home."

"Okay, we'll go there first and make sure she's still alive. Let's go, Rukia!"

* * *

Willow staggered back, panting, smoke trailing from her fingertips. She had thought that now she would be able to fend for herself, but she was tiring too quickly. She had managed to fell two more Hollows, but each blow she dealt cost her twice as much energy as last time, and they were still gaining on her. She cursed inwardly; she was back to where she had been ten minutes ago. Another Hollow lumbered forwards. Drawing up her last remaining energy, Willow sent a golden missile crashing into it's skull. As it dissappeared, she collapsed to her knees, gasping for air. She wasn't going to last at this rate, but with those last attacks she had gained herself some time. She shakily got to her feet, preparing to run but her legs gave way beneath her. There were still two more hollows left. They advanced towards her, then stopped suddenly, cocking their heads to one side. In the still night, Willow caught the faint sound of growling. She couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from , but the Hollows seemed to have an easier time of it. They slowly turned to the right, facing away from Willow. From the bushes, a large and menacing creature stalked into sight. As it drew into the clearing and became illuminated by the lampposts, Willow gasped. It was a werewolf. And not just any werewolf.

"…Oz?" Willow said softly.

Oz made no indication of having heard her, and instead circled around the hollows. With no warning, he suddenly jumped forwards, snapping at them. The hollows roared, enraged, and the closest one swatted at him but he dodged around the fist before going in for the kill. Willow watched in horror at the spectacle as Oz churned away in a whirlwind of teeth and claws. He brought the hollow down to its knees, and dug his vicious talons into the skull. A bright light shone around the deep gouges, and the hollow disintegrated. Dropping to the ground, Oz wasted no time in turning on the other one and ripping it to shreds.

After he finished off the last one, Oz watched silently as it dissappeared and then turned to face Willow. Willow looked at the snarling muzzle and swallowed. Running would be pointless, if he meant to kill her he would be on her in seconds. She could try to fight, but that could all too easily result in Oz being hurt or killed. The wolf padded closer on all fours, lowering it's hackles.

"Oz? Hey, Oz? You there?" Willow said, increasingly hopeful. As it approached, slowly and cautiously, Willow's eye caught a flash of crimson beneath the dark, matted fur. Oz was hurt.

"Oh god, Oz..." She murmered. Slowly, she moved forwards and reached out a hand. The wolf gently brushed his head against her hand, then lay down in front of her. He was exhausted. Willow knelt down beside him.

"Oz. Oz, it is you. But why are you a wolf tonight? There's no full moon. Also why aren't you trying to kill me? Er. Not that I'm complaining or anything. I'm good not being killed."

"Willow!"

Willow looked up to see Buffy and Rukia approaching. "Willow, are you okay?"

"Yeah! But… But Oz…"

Buffy stopped short when she saw him, curled up in a furry heap on the ground. "Again? He became a werewolf again?"

"He's hurt, he's bleeding."

"Shit..." Buffy started to go forwards, but Rukia held her back.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of him, but you have to go."

"But he's-!"

"No! There are hollows out there right now, preying on innocents, and you have to stop them. It is your duty!"

Buffy reddened with anger, but said nothing. Rukia's tone softened.

"He'll be fine, but not if we get attacked again. You have to take care of things."

"... yeah, fine." Buffy glared at Rukia, but nonetheless ran off into the night, drawing her Zanpakuto.

When she was gone, Rukia turned back to Willow and Oz.

"Willow, what exactly happened here?"

Willow swallowed nervously. "Well, I was just at home, then all the hollows just appeared. I tried to run, but I couldn't and then… I'm not sure. Something happened. I did something, and I don't think it was magic." She raised a hand to demonstrate. A shimmering blue orb faded into sight,resting on her open palm. "I couldn't keep it up. I thought I was gonna die, then Oz... He saved me, finished the last of them off."

Rukia listened with interest. There were some very bizarre things occurring recently. Willow seemed to have developed her spirit power to an extremely high level in a short amount of time. It was remarkable. Rukia glanced down at Oz.

 _Could the same thing have happened to him? Could this explain why he transformed on a night with no full moon? Xander also mentioned something similar as well…_

A slow clapping shook Rukia from her daydreaming.

"Well done. Very impressive display of your powers back there, Willow."

She looked up. In front of them stood a tall blonde man, in a green striped hat and a matching green coat that looked very familiar…

"You!" Rukia and Willow exclaimed at the same time. Rukia looked at Willow in surprise.

"Wait, you know him?"

"Well, not really. He just knocked on the door and asked to deliver something to Buffy..."

The man bowed. "My name is Kisuke Urahara. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Rosenberg. I'm sorry about earlier, I was in a bit of a hurry.

Rukia's expression shot daggers towards Kisuke. "Urahara, yes or no; are you responsible for all this?"

He threw his hands up in defense. "Only for the Hollows. I knew you all would be able to cope."

"Cope?" Willow's eyes shone angrily as tears of shock, anger and worry spilled over her lashes. "Oz is hurt because of you! He's bleeding!"

"I am sorry about that. But trust me when I tell you this was all necessary. Don't worry, Willow."

" _What!?_ "

"Willow, you have only just begun to discover the power you possess. Tell me, what have you achieved so far?"

"…I can attack.. and defend…"

"Try to heal him."

Willow frowned. "How do I do that?"

"I can't tell you everything. It's your power, youmust work out how to use it for yourself."

Willow hesitated and looked to Rukia. Unsure of what else to do, Rukia simply nodded. Willow seemed to take this as encouragement enough as she gently raised her hands and closed her eyes.

The seconds ticked by. After a while, Rukia noticed that the wound was beginning to smoke and steam. The pool of blood began to shrink, and the torn flesh knitted itself back together. Willow trembled with exertion, her brow creased in concentration. The wound closed, and Willow fell backwards, her chest heaving.

"That.. was.. hard.." She said.

Urahara smiled. "Using too much spirit energy will tire you. It looks like you'll have to rest before you try again. Incedentally, did you manage to give Buffy that package?"

"Er, no. Never really got the chance, what with all the big evil things trying to, you know, eat me."

"I see. Ah, well."

Rukia sighed. "What is going on, Urahara? What are you doing here?"

"Just lending a hand. Is that really so suspicious?"

"It is when it's you."

"Now now, that was hurtful." He replied, still wearing that persistent smile. He walked forwards and examined Oz, who seemed to be returning to human form. "You healed him well, but it seems he won't come around for some time. There was another one of you. Xander, right? Where is he?"

"Oh, um, I don't know."

"He's back at Buffy's place, with Angel." Said Rukia. "Why? Want do you want with him?"

"Angel?" A look of puzzlement, then recognition flashed across Urahara's face. "Oh, I see. Well! Let's get the furball here somewhere safe, then go and get your friends. I think you all ought to see what happens next."

* * *

Buffy sped through the waves of hollows, effortlessly slicing her way through them. It was actually quite easy now. With a few exceptions, they all seemed to move in the same patterns, acting on little more than pure instinct. That realisation had proved far more valuable than her increased power and speed. Even so, the sheer number of the creatures made it a very perilous situation; it was all too easy to let one of them take her by surprise, too easy to let one fall out of her line of sight. One bad slip up and it could be the end. She pushed onwards through the relentless torrent.

She was beginning to lose hope that there would ever be an end, when she saw it. The crack in the sky, that stretched and crumbled away through the atmosphere. The crack widened, revealing a black abyss beyond it. Then a huge white hand emerged and grasped the sides, pulling it open further and further. The crack was now the length of a five-story building, and the creature beyond it was at least as big. Out of the blackness, a deathly white face loomed.

Buffy gasped audibly as she realised what she was looking at. The creature stepped through the crack and brought it's foot crashing down on the street below. It was a monstrous size, bigger than any normal hollow. It had a flat, elongated mask with circular, empty eyes and a long pointed nose that jutted out from the centre. It seemed to be clad head to foot in a rippling back cloak from which a circle of vicious spikes emerged at shoulder height.

"…you're fricking kidding me…"

It was no more than a few hundred yards away. It could crush her flat with one step. How the hell was she supposed to kill that thing?

Her thoughts were interrupted as the other hollows pressed in, forcing her into a defensive stance. She systematically chopped down the small fry, praying that their giant back up would be gracious enough to wait until she was free to fight one-on-one.

She was not so lucky.

Out of the corner of her eye as she spun through the air, she saw the creature open it's mouth. A red light began to shine, growing brighter and brighter. It seemed familiar… Buffy remembered the few times she had seen Rukia use her powers. This seemed much the same, only a heck of a lot more powerful.

Her slayer instincts screamed at her, and Buffy abandoned her duel with a hollow and rocketed out of the way. A beam of red hit the ground behind her, vaporising the other hollow in an instant.

"Oh, come on! That's hardly fair!" She gasped. She really could not afford to slip up, she'd be dead for good. The hollow was already preparing itself for another attack. Buffy forced herself to keep running.

* * *

Meanwhile, Willow, Urahara and Rukia had arrived at Buffy's place. Angel was pacing up and down the driveway, while Xander sat on the steps with a troubled expression. When he saw Willow approaching, he jumped up and ran forwards to hug his life-long best friend.

"Willow! Oh my god, Will! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! I'm fine. What about you?"

"Yeah, I'm good. This has been one hell of a crazy evening, though."

"Tell me about it. Angel, are you-" Willow stopped and frowned. Angel was staring past her, even paler than usual. She turned.

"Oh! Right. This is-"

"Kisuke Urahara." He tipped his hat in greeting. He seemed to ignore Angel's very presence. "I am afraid I am, in part, responsible for your current situation.

Xander gasped. "Oh, oh! It's you! Hat guy!" He fished around in his pocket and brought out the 'Hollow Bait' box, flourishing it accusingly. "This was you! Wasn't it? You put it in my pocket when you walked past me!"

"Indeed. I also planted a similar one in Willow's home when I visited. Don't worry, the effects are temporary and should wear off before long. I simply wanted for you two to develop your powers, which you have both achieved quite spectacularly. Congratulations."

"Wait wait wait, you're responsible for this thing too?" Xander said, holding up the cross on his bracelet. "And the big blue bow thing?"

"I did not give you that ability, if that is what you're asking. That power was already yours."

Xander looked down at the silver cross blankly. "But what is-."

"Quincy." Rukia stated simply. Everyone turned to look at her. "You're a Quincy. I thought they had all died."

"Most if them did." Replied Urahara. "The Quincys have a complicated history, but suffice it to say long ago they had a disagreement with the soul society and most of them were wiped out by the soul reapers, while some went into hiding. Xander, your ancestors were powerful Quincys who abandoned their powers in order to survive. That cross you are wearing is a Quincy talisman, allowing the use of their powers. Normally such a thing takes years of trying in order to utilise, but you happen to be in a very unique position. Not only are you high in spirit power and have the benefits of a strong heritage, but you have also been living on top of a hellmouth for all your life. All these factors have combined to give you almost instant mastery of your powers."

Xander was staring ahead, open mouthed, his mind in such a state of shock that he was barely able to process any of the information he was being told.

"…oh… Cool…" He managed, weakly.

Urahara then turned to Willow. "Your case is slightly different. You also have remarkably high levels of spirit energy, are you are also quickly becoming well-versed in the art of magic. They way one's spirit powers present is strongly dependant on one's soul. Your soul finds magic a comforting and familiar presence, and so that is how your powers present themselves. A similar thing seems to have happened to your werewolf friend. I admit, I was not expecting or intending for him to develop powers of his own."

"So… his transformation, on a night with no moon, was his 'power'?"

"Yes."

Willow and Xander exchanged a glance.

"That. Um. That's a lot to take in."

Urahara opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped.

"Oh dear. Look at that." He muttered, staring up at the sky. Rukia and Willow followed his gaze. In the sky, there was a big black crack running down the sky. Willow frowned.

"Huh? What is that?"

Rukia stared at it in horror. "No… it couldn't be…"

The crack widened, and they all stared at the creature that emerged from the black.

Is that.. a hollow?" Asked Willow uncertainly.

"It's a menos." Replied Rukia. She was wide eyed and shaking. It was uncharacteristic for her to show so much fear. "I've only ever seen them in textbooks. They never come through to the human world, they don't!" She glanced around, clearly panicked. "We have to get out of here. Only a Soul Reaper of a lieutenant class or higher even stands a chance."

Urahara stepped in, laying a hand on Rukia's shoulder. "Now, don't be so quick to write off your new friends. I believe we have a perfectly capable soul reaper on hand to deal with this."

"What, Buffy? Don't mess around! She's good, but she's not-!"

Urahara ignored her protests, and turned to the others. "Well, I can hardly think of a better way to put your new abilities to the test. Buffy may very well be needing your help, keeping the smaller ones at bay. Are you willing to fight alongside her?"

Both Willow and Xander hesitated. What the had just been told… it was overwhelming. Unbelievable, some would call it. But not them. They had seen too much to declare anything 'unbelievable' anymore. They had new abilities, that was certain.

Buffy was out there, fighting. Alone. She had always been alone in the fight, always having to rely on herself. Willow caught Xander's eye, and he nodded.

Maybe, just maybe she wouldn't have to fight alone anymore.

"Of course."

"Always."

Urahara beamed. "Wonderful! I suppose we should get going then."

They nodded, and ran off towards the towering beast.

Rukia shook her head. "Insane. This is insane…" She muttered. She glanced up at Angel, who hadn't moved or spoken since their arrival. "Well? Are you coming?"

Angel didn't look at her. "Hmm? Yeah... yes."

* * *

The fight continued for a long while. If it could be called a fight. Buffy would dodge the attack, then be forced to defend herself from yet another wave of hollows before she even spend a second to think.

 _Goddamn it! I can't even get close! If these other hollow would just leave me alone for one minute, I might be able to do something…_

She turned to face yet another Hollow, when it was blasted away before her eyes.

She blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

"Buffy!" Willow was running towards her, followed by Xander.

"What..? No, no! You need to get out of here, now! Run! You can't be here!" Buffy's voice rose in panic. She might be able to handle herself, but she couldn't protect both of them. Someone would get hurt.

Willow ran up to her. "No, Buffy. It's fine. You don't need to protect us here."

"You will get yourselves killed!"

"Boy, try to help and see the thanks we get?" Xander said jokingly. "Will and I can keep some of them off your back. Give you time to focus on more important things."

"You..?" Buffy started uncertainly. "Um. Try not to take this the wrong way, but what exactly are you going to do?"

"You know I told you earlier I killed one of them? I wasn't lying. Willow's done some in too. We got a little bit of last - minute tuition on the slayage front…"

He looked past her. Buffy turned, and saw Rukia standing beside a man she didn't recognise.

"Who are you?" She asked threateningly, tensing up for a fight.

It was Rukia who replied. "His name is Urahara."

The man smiled. "Kisuke Urahara. I've been watching your progress for some time." He smiled.

"He's okay, don't worry!" Willow gambled. "Well, I mean- he is kinda responsible for the big demony epidemic which nearly got us all killed, but he's on our side. Somehow."

"Great. Just great. More complications." Buffy gritted her teeth. "Ura- whatever your name is, just stay out of the fight, I'll deal with you later. Willow, Xander, if you really think you can handle it, I'll leave the rest of them up to you. I've got the big guy to take down."

She began to move away, but Urahara spoke again, stopping her in her tracks. "Really? You think you can take down a menos?" His voice suddenly condescending and cold. "Lieutenant soul reapers have a hard time with them. What makes you think that you, an eighteen year old human, can even hope to rise to that level?"

Buffy turned slowly, her eyes sharp and piercing as she struggled to maintain composure. "What did you just say?"

"I think you heard me, little girl."

Willow, Xander and Rukia exchanged glances. This was a change to the calm, carefree man that he had seemed to be earlier. He was taunting her.

"I think it best, that this sort of thing is left to those who know what they're doing."

Buffy laughed. " _What?_ Okay then, try this; I'm the goddamn slayer. Did you know that? Do you know what a slayer is? Let me tell you. A slayer is a girl who is given the powers to fight evil. That's me. A girl who, every single night, fights on the front lines against all manner of icky because I have to. I don't know much about these hollow, or the soul society, or even my own damn powers, but I do know that this," She motioned behind her at the towering figure, "This is _nothing_ compared to some of the stuff I've seen! I have prevented the apocalypse, twice! Believe me when I say I can handle one clumsy oversized demon."

"Buffy…" Rukia began, but she swallowed the rest of her words

Urahara's face broke out into a huge grin, shattering the tense atmosphere. "I see! Well, that's fine then. Have fun, we'll back you up from here."

Buffy paused. "Um. What?"

"You're absolutely right. Your slayer powers come from a place much darker and more powerful than that menos could even imagine. If it could imagine. Frankly it's little more than an animal."

Buffy stared at him. He wasn't mocking her, he was serious. Understanding began to dawn. "You utter prick…"

"Come now, no need for that. You'd better hurry up, by the way. I think he's getting a bit impatient."

She looked back at the Menos which was preparing to attack again.

"Oh shit-"

She ran towards it at full speed, brandishing her Zanpakuto.

"Stop standing around, you lot! There are hollows to kill!" Urahara called to the other two. Willow and Xander jumped to attention and proceeded to use their newfound powers to cut their way through the oncoming tides.

* * *

Angel, who had been carefully staying out of sight, silently moved beside Urahara. He stared after Buffy. "What was the point of that? Pissing her off?"

Oh, nothing. She just needed a bit of a confidence boost."

"Huh. Interesting method..." He glanced up at the towering creature. "Are you sure she can handle that?"

"Of course. The slayer's duties don't end at demons. Any supernatural forces that threaten the living falls inside her jurisdiction."

"I guess you could argue that hollows are a type of demon. They're quite similar to vampires, in some ways."

"You would know, wouldn't you, Angelus?"

Angel shot Urahara a dark look. "I don't use that name anymore. You know that."

"Really? I thought you picked it up again last year."

Triggered by fury, Angel's face contorted and his teeth elongated. He snarled angrily, but Urahara didn't flinch.

"There he is. There's the 'Angel' I met all those years ago." He said, a shade too cheerfully. He patted Angel's back. "Oh, cheer up. I was teasing. You should be watching the show; Don't you want to see your girlfriend beat a Menos?"

* * *

As Buffy approached, she wondered how this would actually work. Even if she could cut through the head she would have to reach it first, preferably without dying. Her soul reaper form allowed her to move and jump much higher, but not but that much. Or did it? She had never actually tested the boundaries of her new powers. It would probably have been a good idea to get a grasp of her limitations before heading into such a battle, but there was nothing to be done about it now. Gripping her sword in both hands, she jumped, climbing up to the top of a nearby building. It barely got her up a third of the way, but it made her feel a bit better.

"Hey ugly!" She yelled at the nightmarish face. It swiveled to look at her. "Yeah, that's right! Sorry, big guy. Any other town and you might have been okay for a little rampage, but you just had to pick the one with a slayer. That's really gonna cost you."

Showing no understanding of her words, the Menos leaned over just enough so that it's face was pointing directly at her. It opened it's mouth again.

"Oh, come on! That old trick? Show some imagination!"

It fired the flash of red energy. Buffy dodged forwards, underneath the beam, and launched herself upwards with as much momentum as she could muster. She raised her sword and as she did so, the tip skimmed through the haze of red energy. Buffy felt a jolt run down the sword and through her arms, filling her with power. She didn't have time to question the sensation, and so took advantage of the borrowed strength as best she could. She brought her sword slicing down and the cold metal was met with hard bone. Her Zanpakuto bit hungrily into the Menos' face, chipping it away. The Menos howled in protest, but before the creature had enough time to react, Buffy pulled her sword away and began her descent. When she landed, she looked up at her handiwork. The menos had a crack running through half of it's mask, but nothing more.

"No way… I used my full strength!" Buffy gasped, but despite her own disappointment, the wound seemed to be more than enough for the menos. Still screaming horribly, it lifted it's foot back inside the tear and gradually retreated. It let go of the wall of the tear, and let the crack seal itself back up

* * *

Xander worked to finish off the last remaining hollows. He could barely keep from shouting in joy each time he felled another one. Finally, he was useful. Finally he could actually help! Urahara had given him a very quick and unsatisfactory explanation of his abilities. Something to do with a… Quincy? Was that the word he used? He was surprised at how good he was with the glowing blue bow, considering he had never tried any sort of archery in his life. It seemed to come instinctively to him. Instinctively, yet not effortlessly. Each arrow he released took a lot of energy out of him and he was getting tired. He glanced over at Willow who was fighting her own battle. He couldn't even imagine how hard it must be for her, since she had already used up a lot of her power. Thankfully the creatures seemed to have stopped swelling their numbers since Buffy finished off the Menos. Once this battle was over, they could rest.

He pulled back on the translucent blue string and sent one final arrow flying out into the head of the final Hollow, before falling to his knees in exhaustion. It was done. He grinned; he was no longer helpless. He could only imagine at what this could mean for his future.

* * *

Buffy gazed at the sky absently, her hair and robe fluttering in he breeze. She gripped her Zanpakuto tightly in one hand. Something had happened in that fight. It was like she had absorbed the energy in the Menos' attack. Was this also a soul reaper thing? Rukia had certanly never mentioned anything like that, but then again Buffy had got the feeling that she wasn't being told everything anyway. She was only a substitute for Rukia, this was a temporary situation, but she disliked not knowing the whole truth. Could she really just return to normal when this was all over and done with? Pretend that she never knew?

"That was very well done, Miss Summers."

Buffy turned. Urahara was standing behind her.

"Dont be too upset, I wasn't expecting you to kill it. Frankly, I'm impressed you were even able to wound it. Menos are not to be taken lightly."

"Who are you?" Buffy asked bluntly. This man was playing games with her and she was having none of it.

"I just want to help you to-"

"Cut the cryptic bullshit, I want to know who you are. You're in my town, and I need to know what you're doing here."

His faint smile lingered on his face. "I see. Well, there's not a whole lot to be said. Your friend was right, it was me who brought the Hollows."

"How?"

"Hollow Bait. I planted some on both Willow and Xander, in order to-" He didn't get any further before Buffy sprang forwards and clocked him with a formidable right hook, catching his chin. As he fell back, Buffy spoke softly and menacingly.

"You! You put my friends in danger! You brought countless numbers of those things to a town already overrun by demons, and let them run rampant? You _lured_ them here, hurt people precious to me? Put an entire community at risk, and let all the responsibility of ending it safely fall to me?" She snarled. "Remind me why I'm not ending your pitiful existence right now!"

"Hah, well," Urahara began, climbing back to his feet. He seemed entirely unfazed by her violent outburst. "Technically, everything you're saying is true. It was all necessary. There is going to be worse thing to face, Buffy much worse. You and your friends must be ready." He picked up and dusted off his hat before placing it back on his head

Buffy threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "What, then? What is the big bad I'm going to have to face this time?" She yelled.

"That's something you'll discover yourself in due time."

"Oh, for the love of god! You're worse than Angel used to be. 'Ooh, hi! There's a big evil thing coming that will try to kill you! Can't tell you anything else! Bye!'"

Urahara chuckled. "Angel, eh?" He muttered. Buffy frowned, but before she could ask he continued, "I understand your anger. I have something of a peace offering for you, I left it with your friend Willow. I believe you will find it very interesting."

"Why? What is it?"

His smile faded slightly. "Tell me, how much do you really know about your slayer powers, about your predecessors?"

Buffy eyed him suspiciously. "Well… there's the watchers journals.."

"Not much then. I thought so." He glanced upwards at the sky and his expression lightened. "Oh dear. It seems to be getting a bit late. Isn't it a school night?"

* * *

Urahara dissappeared soon after the confrontation. Buffy returned to the group, and saying goodnight to Rukia and Xander she went with Willow to her home and collected the mysterious package.

When she finally returned home it was late, about three in the morning. Both Rukia and Joyce were asleep upstairs, but Buffy couldn't bring herself to do the same until she knew exactly what was the gift she had just received. Switching on the lights, she went into the kitchen and sat down at the table and removed the paper and string. Inside was an ancient leather-bound book, thick with yellowed pages.

"Wonderful. Giles will be thrilled." She mumbled skeptically, but nonetheless she delicately prised the cover open, so as not to cause the book any further damage. The pages were crisp and dry as she flicked through and the ink was smudged, but mostly readable. She skimmed over a random paragraph, then found herself reading it over again and again to try and make sense of what she was seeing. After a while, she turned back the pages to the beginning, and began to read earnestly.

The first page had been artificially stuck into a book, and bore writing which appeared to be much more recent than the rest.

 _From the private collection of the Soul Society's Research and Development Institute. The following records, from prehistoric times, detail the first appearance of a slayer in the soul society._

 _Translation of the text is incomplete. Research into completing translation continues_.

The final lines had the appearance of a researcher's private notes.

 _"The few events detailed in the translated sections are troubling at best. There are a few other records of similar events in later times, all of which describe catastrophic losses to the soul society. If there is a chance of future slayers finding their way in, research must be done into a way to stop them, as another repetition of what happened all those thousands of years ago could well spell the end of the soul society."_


	10. Progress

Chapter 10: Progress

* * *

"Buffy? Buffy! Buffy, wake up!"

Buffy opened her eyes. She was still sitting a the kitchen table, her head resting on the old book she had been reading the night before. Joyce was standing over her, shaking her awake. "What are you still doing here? You should have left for school an hour ago!"

"What?" Buffy jumped up. "What time is it?"

"It's late. What were you doing, sleeping down here?" Joyce's eyes skimmed over the book, and a hopeful glint ignited within them. "Oh! Did you fal asleep studying?" She moved to get a closer look, but Buffy snatched up the book and backed out of the room. "Yes! Yes, I did. That's it exactly. Studying. Um, I need to get washed and changed, I didn't get a chance last night."

"Do you want me to drive you in?"

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks!"

Buffy ran upstairs and into her room, clutching the book. She must have been really tired last night, she couldn't remember reading anything after the first page. Bursting with curiosity, she opened it to the second page but found herself unable to read any of the strange characters that she found.

 _Damn._

Most of it was in an entirely different language. This would need to be translated before it was readable, but at least it would give Giles something other to do than pester her to train.

* * *

Giles took off his glasses and wiped them with his handkerchief before replacing them.

"Good grief… well, you lot certainly had an exiting time without me."

"Exiting is kinda the wrong word." Replied Xander. "Try terrifying. And confusing. And all around weird."

"But we have powers and stuff now!" Willow chirped optimistically. "Actual powers. Fighty stuff, I mean, that's pretty cool, right?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm hyped about that for sure! It's just… I don't really like how it all unfolded."

Giles frowned. "How do you mean, Xander?"

"I dunno. I guess I just don't like the thought of something being able to mess with me. Change me. I don't know if I like the sound of this 'Spirit power' everyone keeps talking about."

"You've been living on top of the hellmouth for your entire life. A hellmouth which has been chugging out demonic energy all the time." Oz remarked.

Xander hesitated. "Well… yeah, true. It's never done anything noticeable to me though."

Rukia stepped forwards. "Spirit power isn't some external force, it's within you. My guess is that the hellmouth simply helped to bring it out. Besides, Urahara told you that your powers have been passed down to you. You inherited your high spirit level."

"Have you asked your Dad yet? About the Quincy stuff?" Willow asked. Xander shook his head.

"Nah, not yet. It's a kinda weird thing to bring up. It's gonna be a big of enough challenge to find a time when he's sober enough anyway."

"Hey, Rukia," Oz began. "I have a question. Am I still going to transform on nights with a full moon? Or do I have control over it now?"

Rukia paused, considering him for a moment. "I'm not sure. I'm still unfamiliar your world, all the demons and mysticism. It could be."

"Then I guess we'll find out." He looked up at Willow and Xander. "Sorry I got beat down so quick last night. Sounds like I missed the most exiting event."

Willow replied, "Don't be sorry! I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for you, you were amazing. Do you remember all of it?"

"Mostly. But even then, I didn't have full control. Like, it was me, but I felt more wolf than human."

"Well, you didn't attack or kill me, so I'm happy."

Giles approached Rukia. "Actually, I have a few questions of my own."

"Yes?"

"I think it would serve us all well to learn a bit more about these Hollows. They're a bit of a mystery, and I've been able to find very little mention of them at all in any of my books. Is there anything you can tell us?"

"Yes, I suppose there is. Let's see... When most souls die, they pass straight on to the soul society. Those who stay usually do so because they feel they have something they need to accomplish. They might watch over a loved one, or protect a certain place. Hollows are souls that have become overwhelmed by sadness or regret, have been devoured by a hollow, or simply stay too long in the human world. All souls have a chain of fate that connect them to their bodies that is severed when they die. When the chain eventually disintegrates fully, a hole opened in their chest and they lose their heart. That is when they turn into a hollow. Destroying the mask of a Hollow frees the soul to move on to the soul society."

"But why the mask?" Willow asked. "What's so special about it? Why does only that kill them?"

"That is where the heart goes."

"Wait wait wait," Xander said, "The hollow's mask is their… heart?"

"Yes."

Giles said, "That's fascinating. It is incredibly similar to the way a vampire is made."

Rukia glanced at him in surprise. "It is?"

"It is?" Echoed Xander.

"Yes! Think about it. When a vampire is made, the soul is forced out and a demon takes over, and it can only be killed by destroying the heart."

"Or burning, or beheading, or-"

"Yes, yes, okay. Thank you Xander. But what if the soul doesn't leave, like we thought? What if it's corrupted? Or, or trapped, like in a hollow? Can you not see the similarities?"

Willow squealed in excitement as it clicked into place. "Ooh! Oh! Also, when a vampire dies it turns into dust! Same thing happens to a hollow! Only in that case, it's more spirity, soul, not-really-there dust that just dissappears... but the point is they both disintegrate when they die."

"Exactly." Giles turned back to Rukia. "What do you think? Are hollows a type of demon? Are they related to vampies?"

"I… I'm not sure. No one has ever reffered to them as demons, but… You're right. It seems likely."

Just then Rukia's phone buzzed. As she took it out of her pocket, Xander tensed. "What is it? Hollow?"

"No, it's Buffy. Good grief, she only just woke up. She should be here soon."

"Well, that fight last night probably took a lot out of her. She should call in sick, get some rest."

"She still hasn't told her Mom yet though, has she? Joyce wouldn't let her stay in."

"Nor should she." Giles huffed in response to the teenager's remarks. "Buffy has duties to attend to. She cannot afford to shirk her responsibilities. Besides, I could do with hearing her side of events."

"Slave driver." Willow muttered. She stood up. "If we're done here for now, I've still got a bit of history homework left. Didn't get a chance to finish, what with all the excitement." She walked away to a more secluded area of the library.

...

Xander moved over to Rukia. "So, how are you doing after-?"

"Sorry Xander, one minute," She replied dismissively, following Willow.

"…after everything..?" Xander finished lamely.

Oz regarded him impassively. "Still pining?"

"What?" Xander replied, alarmed. "Pining? Who's pining? No pining happening here! What gave you that idea?"

"Well, it-"

"No. Actually, don't answer that. Please."

...

Rukia found Willow browsing the shelves of history textbooks. "Willow? I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Hm? Oh, sure! What about?"

Rukia crossed her arms and leaned against the library shelves. "I wanted to ask how you're coping."

"Oh, fine! Fine! You know, last night wasn't exactly anything out of the ordinary. Sure, a little more ghosty than demony, but same difference really."

"No, I meant with everything. Ghosts. The afterlife."

Willow's expression froze for a second, but she recovered fast. "Oh. Why wouldn't I be?"

"People from all different religions can find it hard. Or a shock. It's not unusual, or unreasonable."

Willow shrugged, evidently uncomfortable with the conversation. "It's fine. I'm fine. Nothing wrong, no one upset here. We're all just living large in fineville."

"Willow." Rukia said softly, but not patronisingly. "Look- Yes, there is an afterlife. But remember that beyond that everything's still a mystery to us. Don't think there's no room for belief, because there is. Even if things aren't exactly as you imagined them, it doesn't mean you're wrong" She chuckled. "Heh, there's people in the soul society who can explain this way better than me."

"What about you? Were… are you religious?"

"No. I was a baby when I died, I remember nothing about my short life as a human. And in the soul society I never really ran into the idea of faith until I was already quite old."

"So you don't believe in anything?"

Rukia paused. "I guess… I guess I believe that I don't know. I don't know if there's a god or not. And I'm okay not knowing."

* * *

A few minutes later, Buffy ran in through the doors. "I'm here! I'm here! I made it!" She said. Willow and Rukia ducked out of the shelves as they heard her approach.

Xander grinned. "Ah, so sleeping beauty awakes! Good to see you." He said jokingly.

"Hey, Buffy." Said Oz

"Yeah, you too. Where's Giles?"

Giles strode out of his office. "Glad to see you made it to school. I can't imagine Snyder will be too pleased with your tardiness, however."

"Yeah, yeah. Look- I had a difficult night, okay?"

"So the others have been telling me. Seems I missed out on quite a lot of excitement."

"Don't worry. I've got something here that you'll like." Buffy relied, rooting around in her bag and gently placing the ancient book down on the centre table. Xander and Oz leaned forwards in their seats, and Willow and Rukia leaned over the banister to get a better look.

"Where did you get this?" Giles asked, curiously yet cautiously.

Willow spoke up. "Was that it? Was that what Urahara gave you?"

"Yeah. I didn't manage to read much due to most of it being in gibberish speak, but a few parts of it have been translated already. Besides, there's this." She opened the cover and read out the writing on the first page, while the rest of them listened in increasing alarm.

When Buffy finished, she stood back and let it sink in. After a moment of silence, Xander burst out,

"Oh, come on! Don't end there! That's just the worst cliffhanger!"

"Hey, if you can read ancient heiroglypy prehistoric, be my guest. Otherwise, that's pretty much all there is for now."

"Well, that's not a very good gift." Oz remarked. "If we can't even read it."

Willow replied, "Urahara must think we'd be able to translate it. Maybe we have more appropriate resources to do so than the soul reaper guys did?"

"Better resources than the soul society? I thought those guys could live for thousands of years, they'd have had ages to gather all the stuff they needed."

Giles said, "Perhaps it was a particularly rare book… I take it you would like me to look into translating it, Buffy? I can ask the Watcher's council for access to their resources. If there's anything to help us, it's there."

Buffy nodded. "Good. Thanks."

As Giles practically ran into his office to call some contacts, Rukia spoke up.

"The end of the soul society… what the hell happened back then?"

"Well, we've had our fair share of near apocalypses. It's only fair the soul society gets some too."

Rukia shook her head. "No. This is different. The strongest soul reapers have had thousands of years to hone their skills. Anything strong enough to overcome them…" She looked up at Buffy. "Your slayer powers. What are they? Where do they come from?"

"…I don't know. Not really." Buffy paused, breaking eye contact with Rukia. "I think this book is supposed to help me work that out. At least, that's what Urahara implied."

"There's really nothing else to be done about it until Giles finds out something, then?" Willow asked.

Buffy nodded. "Guess so. Okay! Supernatural stuff done and dealt with, back to real life. What lesson do we have next?"

"English. It starts in a few minutes."

"Okay, great! I'll just finish off the homework, and-"

"Actually, Buffy," Rukia interrupted, "We're not quite done yet. I have something to show you."

Buffy blinked. "What? But.. but we were finished! I have class, I can't-"

"Come on, it won't take long" Rukia said, ignoring Buffy's protests and dragging her out of the room.

…

As they left, the other three watched in mild amusement.

"Wow." Said Willow. "She's really not getting many breaks, huh?"

Xander smiled. "Double destiny Buffy. As if slaying wasn't putting a big enough strain on her everyday life."

Willow glanced at Xander, a smile playing on her lips. "So, you still haven't talked to Rukia, then?"

Xander looked up at her in alarm. "Wh- what is everyone going on about? Why does... I mean, I'm not… Fine! Fine, yeah, I like her."

Willow grinned. "Come on. It's you crushing on Buffy all over again. Only this time you seem a little more hidey about it."

Xander shrugged. Oz suggested, "Well, she is dead. Makes for a bit more challenging relationship."

"It worked for Buffy and Angel! A-at first, anyway…" Willow said, losing confidence as she thought more about it.

Xander glared at her. "Great comparison, Will."

"Well, Rukia isn't a demon! She's not at risk of losing her soul and going all 'raargh'. And! And, she told me she's only one hundred and fifty, that's nearly a whole century younger than Angel!"

"Will, somehow this conversation isn't making me a whole lot happier."

"Sorry. You should go talk to her, though. Just make conversation. See what happens."

"I agree." Oz contributed. "What's the worst that can happen?"

Xander looked at him in silence for a second. "This is _Sunnydale_. Do you want me to make a list?"

"Fair point."

* * *

"Okay Rukia, this had better be worth getting another 'late to a lesson' lecture from Snyder."

"You won't get one. I got something for you."

"Boy, everyone's giving me stuff. What is it, Christmas?" Buffy remarked unenthusiastically.

"Here." Rukia tossed her a small, vibrantly coloured tube adorned with the head of a cartoon duck.

Buffy stared at the bizarre object indignantly. "A duck. That's… an interesting design choice."

Rukia sighed sadly. "I know. I wanted a 'Chappy the Rabbit' one, but there just weren't any left."

"…I see. Of course." Buffy held up the odd tube closer to her face. " _Soul Candy_ " She read. "What's that?"

"It's a medicine developed by the soul society. It forcibly ejects the soul from a faux body by injecting a new artificial soul to take it's place."

"Wait, what. You want me to let someone else take over my-"

Rukia smiled triumphantly, oblivious to Buffy's distaste for her plan. "This way, you would be capable of dealing with a hollow even if I'm not around to help. In addition, the new soul will take your place at school when you have other duties to attend to. As far as your teachers and classmates know, you will never miss another day of school!"

Buffy paused, and glanced back down at the tube of soul candy. Sure, as the slayer she should _probably_ be careful about what exactly she let's into her body, but it was a tempting offer…

"I… I never have to attend another biology lesson?" She asked, mesmerised by the possibilities unfolding before her.

Rukia frowned. "Um… not when you have hollows or demon to deal with, but other than that I think-"

"Oh! Yes, with great power comes great responsibility and all that. Yeah. So how do I use it?"

"Press down on the head, and swallow the pill that comes out."

Buffy held up her hand, and pressing down on the duck's head, she caught the small, green pill that emerged.

"It's so tiny. Is there really someone's soul in there?"

"Souls don't need a whole lot of room to be bound to a body. As long as it's made of the right stuff, it doesn't really matter what size."

"Cool. Let's try this then."

Buffy held her hand up to her mouth and let the pill roll inside. Swallowing, she immedietly felt herself pushed out of her body and she fell forwards, now clad in the soul reaper regalia.

"It worked!" She muttered, turning back to look at whatever was inside her body now. The Artificial soul stood still, eyes closed. Then, after a moment, her eyes opened and she smiled at them.

"Hello! My name is Buffy Summers!" She said cheerfully.

Buffy caught her breath in excitement. "No way!" She breathed. "Um. Hey. How you doing in there?"

"Me? Oh I'm fine!" She replied cheerfully.

Rukia's phone buzzed. "A Hollow." She said.

"Wow. That was convenient timing." Buffy remarked.

"Indeed. So, how about it? Want to leave her to take care of things here?"

"Oh, yeah. Bye bye, Bio test!"

"What about the others? Are you going to tell them?"

Buffy paused, considering. "Nah. Let's not. Giles would freak if he knew I was skipping for a reason other than slaying. Besides it could be fun to see If the others catch on. Or not." She looked across at the other soul, still smiling. "Okay, souly. You think you can handle things here?"

"Absolutely. Leave it to me."

Buffy strode forwards and squinted at the second Buffy. "Good. Now listen to me, and tell me the truth. This is very important. How good are you at French?"

* * *

Xander watched the exchange from the cover of a nearby tools shed. He had come out to try and talk to Rukia, but this was too fascinating to interrupt. An artificial soul, forced into a body? Woah. You learn something new every day.

Buffy and Rukia soon ran off to deal with another Hollow, leaving Buffy's body in the hands of… whoever it was. She waved at them as she watched them leave and, when Xander was sure they were gone, he emerged himself and strode over.

"Well, fancy that!" He said loudly, startling the temporary Buffy. "Never knew you could have artificial souls. Now listen you, that's my friends' body you got there, you had better take care of it."

"Huh? Oh." She blinked, and smiled somewhat eerily. It was odd to see a non-Buffy smile on Buffy's face. "I guess you'd be one of her friends."

"Yeah, that's right."

"So… does she have any girl friends?"

"Well, yeah, sure. There's Willow and… Willow. Most others are really just aquantiences, and I'm not entirely sure if you could count Cordelia at this stage. It's complicated."

"Are they cute?"

Xander blinked, slightly taken aback. "Oh. Um. I guess. Sorry if this is a bit… uh, blunt, but can I ask… are you gay, then?"

A look of confusion, then anger crossed over her face. "Eh? What? No! I just said…" She trailed off as she seemed to realise something. She glanced downwards. "Er… yes… sure." A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that at all! It's just that since you're in Buffy's body and, you know, pretending to be Buffy, it really would be best if you didn't do anything too… not Buffy. Yeah?"

"Yeah, got it." She said slowly and carefully.

Xander watched her suspiciously. There was something off. Something about the posture, about the way she spoke. It wasn't just because she wasn't Buffy, it was something more than that.

"Hey, guys?" Willow called out to them from back towards the school. "Class starts soon, if you've got nothing too important happening, you should probably come back."

"Coming, Will!" Xander called.

As Willow headed back inside, the Buffy imposter sighed. "She's really hot! Wow. She's like a goddess!"

"Woah! Back up there, that's Willow you're talking about."

"Come on, you can't tell me she's not! Hey, you ever hit that?"

Xander's eyes widened. The penny dropped. "Oh! Oh!" He said accusingly. "You're not gay at all! You're a guy! A guy… in Buffy's body!"

She… or he… blinked In surprise. "Oh, damn. Hoped it might take a bit longer for you to figure out."

Xander was outraged. "What? What were you.. no, I don't want to know. I REALLY don't want to know. Just… get out. Get out now."

"Can't."

"What?"

"Can't. And don't want to, actually. Guess what?" The Artificial soul leaned forwards and smirked, somehow seeming cover menacing even in Buffy's petite frame. "I'm free. This body is mine now."

"No way. Not a chance. I'll drag you back myself and we'll wait till Buffy and Ru-"

The Artificial soul lashed out, taking Xander by surprise and cuffing him in the head with a blow that knocked him out. He keeled over, landing awkwardly on the ground.

* * *

The soul smiled, and flexed his wrist. "She's strong. Nice. Just makes everything so much easier."

He could hardly believe his luck. Years of hiding, and he had been mixed up with the merchandise and given a body. On top of that, it was a girl's body! Sure, in the long term it might get a bit uncomfortable, but in the short term it would be utterly invaluable. For a 'romantic', as he liked to call himself, he would be able to get away with so much more.

His soul came with special powers, he knew that, but this body housed a strength he had never encountered before. It was immensely powerful, he could tell that from how little effort he had put behind the punch that floored the boy.

Finally after so long on the run praying he would survive, he was free. And there was _so_ much fun to be had.


	11. Mod Soul

Chapter 10: Mod Soul

* * *

Willow returned to the library to gather up her bags and wait for the others before heading off to class. She passed Oz who had got out his guitar and was lightly strumming away.

"Don't you have a class too?" She asked.

Oz nodded. "Yeah. Might not go, though. I've had a tough time concentrating since last night; that transformation messed with me a bit. I honestly don't know if there's much point."

"Yeah, but… you can't just skip."

Oz paused. "Well, that's interesting. In that case, what have I been doing for the last three years of chem tests?"

"Good point. I guess 'can't' was some poor phrasing. What do you make of that book Buffy got?"

"Mm? Oh. Not sure. It didn't sound great, did it?"

"No. Sounded like they've had a few slayers over the years, and each time it went bad. Do you think Buffy's okay? She didn't seem particularly bothered, but I don't know…"

"I think she's trying tot to jump to any conclusions. We shouldn't either."

Behind them, the door swung open. Willow turned around.

"Oh, Buffy! You're here. Where's Xander and Rukia?"

Buffy gazed at Willow. "There you are, my beauty." She mumbled.

"Er- Sorry, Buff?"

Giles emerged from his office. "Right. I've contacted the council about that book. Don't worry, I haven't told them too much. I think that having them aware of what we're in the middle of might prove rather inconvenient for us. I may have to pay a quick visit to England to pick up a few things, then we can get underway trying to translate this." He glared pointedly at Buffy. "In the meantime, I believe some of us have training to do. I understand you have other obligations, Buffy, but you really need to get back on top of this. Rukia will just have to understand your slaying duties come first."

Buffy stared blankly at Giles. "Slaying..? No thanks, doesn't sound that fun."

Giles eyes widened in surprise. "Buffy! Slaying isn't supposed to be 'fun'. It's still important."

"Don't want to." She said. "You know what would be fun?" She sprang forwards and caught Willow's hand. Willow looked at her with concern.

"Buff? Are you okay?"

"I'm just fine, my princess." She crooned.

"Y'see, it's things like that that's making me think otherwise. Really, what-?"

Without warning, Buffy leaned in and planted a kiss on Willow's cheek. While Oz and Giles stared in shock Willow shrieked and leapt back, but Buffy kept firm hold of her hand.

"Woah! Um. Buff? That was a little… er…" She tried to pull her hand away.

"What's wrong? Oh! Is it because I'm a girl now?" Buffy asked with a disturbing smile.

Putting his guitar down, Oz stood up and put his hand on Buffy's shoulder. "Hey, Buffy. Maybe, uh, you want to sit down?"

Buffy shot a dark look his way. "Hey! Back off!"

"Come on, you're scaring Willow. And us. Just-"

Buffy let go of Willow's hand and gave Oz a backhanded blow that made him fall backwards. He groaned as he hit the ground.

"I said back off, bastard!"

"Buffy! Stop!" Giles exclaimed as he ran forwards in a futile attempt to restrain her. She caught his arm and swung him away, throwing him into a nearby bookcase. Willow backed away in panic.

"Ah. Oh dear. I should probably go." Buffy said. She quickly moved towards Willow. "Until we meet again, my dear." Before Willow could pull away, Buffy darted in and kissed her on the lips. Buffy quickly pulled away and ran towards a window, climbing spider-like up the wall towards it. Breaking the glass, she pulled herself through and dissappeared.

The others froze in place, entirely and utterly confused. Oz and Giles glanced at Willow, who was wide-eyed with shock.

Oz slowly pulled himself to his feet. After a moment's pause, he walked over to Giles and offer him a hand to help him up.

"Oh. Thank you." Giles said quietly, accepting it.

They stood in silence for a couple of seconds, unsure of what to do.

"So. Um. Possession then?" Willow suggested.

"Yes. Yes, I think that's a good idea."

Xander charged in, red faced with rage. "Where is it? Has it been here?"

"By 'it', do you mean Buffy?"

"Yes! Well, no. It's not Buffy. It's a thing."

Giles sighed. "Thank you, Xander. We were all very confused before you so helpfully clarified it was a 'thing'."

"Ha ha, yeah yeah. Look. It's a soul. A different soul. Not a Buffy soul."

"Is it a lesbian soul?" Willow asked.

"Oh, no. It's.. er… a male soul." Xander explained.

"Oh... OH."

"How did it get Buffy's body? Where is Buffy?" Giles asked.

"She went off hollow killing with Rukia. I overheard them say this was an 'artificial' Soul thing made by the soul society. I dunno. Buffy swallowed this pill thing and suddenly, boom! One soul reaper Buffy, and another guy in Buffy's body. I don't think he was supposed to be a guy. Funnily enough I don't think it was part of the plan to have him go rouge either."

Willow frowned. "What can we do? The not-buffy has slayer strength, you saw that. Is there any way to stop her… him?"

Giles looked disturbed. "That's a good point, Willow. I don't think any of us could stop something with Buffy's fighting capabilities. We may need to wait for Buffy herself to return before we can do anything."

"Okay. But she is not going to be happy with this…"

* * *

It was an hour later that Buffy finally returned to the school, during lunch break. She strolled in happily through the library doors with Rukia in tow who was looking down at her phone.

"That wasn't bad, I guess. You swordsmanship is still questionable, but it's good enough for these low level hollow, though."

"What do you mean, 'my swordsmanship is questionable'? What did I do wrong?"

"Look, it's absolutely fine. It's great, especially for someone with only three years of training. It's just not quite up to soul reaper standards yet."

"Well, excuse me if I haven't quite found the one hundred years of spare time I need for official Soul Reaper training."

Xander, Willow and Oz all jumped up when they saw her enter.

"Buffy! You're back!" Willow exclaimed in relief.

Buffy smiled. "Aw, didn't fall for the fake, then? I hope Snyder did at least. Okay, where is she? I want my body back."

They exchanged glanced.

Xander swallowed. "Er… Buff? Two things. Firstly it's not 'she' as such…"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Fake soul guy is… a guy. Just you know. A kinda perverted guy at that."

Buffy paled. "Wait, what? I… oh. Oh god, what did he do?"

Giles exited his office and walked into the room. "Buffy, you're back. Good. Now, what's happened is-" He stopped and glanced around. After finding no trace of anything Buffy, he frowned. "Oh… sorry. I thought I heard you all talking to Buffy."

Xander raised his eyebrows. "We are. She's right there! Can't you…? Oh…"

"What? Where is she?"

"Um, Giles? Buffy's in soul form. I guess you don't have enough spirit power to see her…" Willow offered helpfully.

"Oh. Right, of course."

Buffy walked up to Giles and waved her hand in front of his face. She giggled. "Hah! This is actually pretty cool! HI GILES!"

Giles sighed. "Buffy, stop that! I might not be able to see you, but I can feel the air rushing past my face. I know you're there, now let's just get on with it."

"Right. He's right." Buffy said, sobering up. "So, what happened next?"

Willow shifted uncomfortably. "Well, um, it's not important."

"Willow? _What happened?_ "

"Er. Okay.. look don't freak out. He might of, he tried to… he kinda kissed me."

Buffy froze, her mouth dropped open. "He…? What? Oh, oh my god! Willow, I'm so sorry!"

"You don't need to worry about that." Willow said quickly. "The second thing, though? He, um, ran out on us. We don't know where he is."

" _And you didn't go after him?_ "

"Well, he had your slayer powers, Buffy! He was too strong, we didn't stand a chance!"

Giles rubbed his temples. "This is very confusing, only hearing one side of the conversation." He muttered.

"Oh." Said Rukia looking disturbed. "Ah. I think I know what's happened here."

The others looked to her questioningly.

"The soul wouldn't have access to Buffy's power. It's in her soul, not her body."

"What? But he was so strong.."

"Because he was a modified soul." She sighed. "I thought they were all gone by now. I guess one slipped through."

"What's a modified soul?"

"A while ago, the soul society began a project named 'Spearhead'. The idea behind it was to create specialised souls that could be injected into dead bodies. They all have superhuman abilities for fighting Hollow."

"Dead bodies?" Remarked Giles. "That's a bit.. morbid, isn't it?"

Willow spoke up. "More than morbid. That's completely unethical!"

Rukia nodded. "That's why the project was discontinued… and all the mod souls created for it were ordered destroyed."

" _What?_ " Xander exclaimed. "But.. I mean, fake Buffy was a bit of a dick, but he's sentient! He's alive! They can't just kill all of them."

"They did. They thought they did, at any rate."

Buffy's eyes were cold. "That's murder. They aren't just little green pills, they're people. And the Soul society used them as tools to be disposed of when they became inconvenient."

"No wonder he's acting out, then. He's gotta be a bit miffed." Xander agreed.

Rukia waved a hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter right now. The mod soul is out there, and he might be dangerous. Even if he's not, I take it you would like to have your body back intact, yes?"

* * *

The mod soul wandered through the graveyard. He had thought it would be fun, running about in a girl's body, but somehow it wasn't. Far from titillating, it just felt wrong. Like he didn't quite fit. He sighed as he gloomily contemplated his options. If he managed to get away from the soul reaper, he would be stuck like this forever. But if he went back he would probably be killed.

 _Not much of a choice, is it?_ He thought.

"Slayer!" Came a growl from behind him. Turning, he came face to face two men who were slowly advancing on him. Their faces were contorted, with heavy slanted brows and snarling lips with razor - sharp incisors protruding from their mouths. The mod soul took a step backwards, alarmed.

"Wh- what do you want?"

"You. Dead." They said, lunging towards him. Utilising his superior muscles, the mod soul jumped backwards and out of the way. In his haste, he tripped over the ground and landed heavily on his back. The two men closed in, laughing.

"What's wrong, slayer? Not feeling too well?" One of them kicked him hard in the stomach. The speed and force of the blow was entirely unexpected and caught him completely off guard.

 _What the hell? What's going on? Is Buffy part of a gang or something?_ He rolled away from his attackers and onto his feet as he fought to regain his focus. He was made to fight hollows, he had superhuman abilities. He could deal with two thugs. He spun and kicked out at the closest one, but his opponent dodged around and counterattacked with a blow to the head. The mod soul staggered back, caught by surprise at his adversary's agility. They were fast and strong. Too fast for humans… but then what were they? They definitely weren't hollows.

"Buffy!" Someone ran up behind the two creatures and kicked the legs out from under the closest one, before turning and blocking a hit from the second. The mod soul watched the ensuing fight with fascination. The man who came to his aid was tall and dark, clad in black. He exchanged blows with he two thugs, feet and fists flying after one another in quick succession. Finally, the man overpowered one of them and drove something small and pointed into his foe's chest. The impaled man cried out, but his yell was cut off as his body crumbled into dust.

"Aah!" The mod soul let out a small cry of terror and backed away. What the hell was happening?

The tall dark man looked around in confusion. "Buffy? What's wrong?" He said with concern, stabbing the other one as he rushed him.

 _What do I do? Would Buffy know what's going on?_ The mod soul thought. His mind was racing in panic.

"Erm. Er. Nothing, I guess." He said uncertainly, still in shock.

The man stepped closer, concern lining his features. "You look pale. Are you ill?"

"What? No! Er. Thanks for the help, man. I… gotta go…" He stammered, before turning and rapidly walking away.

He only had ten seconds before he felt a hand pull him roughly around by the shoulder.

"Hey! Wh-" The mod soul began, but he stopped short when he saw the other man's face. It was contorted and the eyes were yellow, and the teeth were long and pointed, just like the things that had attacked him before. He froze in terror at the ferocity etched into the glare that pinned him in place.

The man growled. "Who are you?"

"I - i'm Buffy!"

"No you're not! Don't think you can trick me. Who are you, and where is the real Buffy?" He snarled, shaking the mod soul by the shoulders.

The mod soul took a deep breath, then his face slowly broke out into a haunting grin.

"Heh. Saw through it, did you? Guess I need a bit more practice." He said, although his voice shook slightly.

He lashed out, catching the mysterious man with a violent punch to the face. It was enough to cause him to break his hold on the mod soul's shoulders. The man recovered quickly and lunged out towards him again, but the mod soul utilised his superhuman abilities and jumped up over the attack, putting a good few meters between him and the ground. Landing a long distance away, he ran off, kicking up dust into the air behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, and smiled. The man was fast, but nowhere near fast enough to catch him. He skirted around a crypt, breaking the line of sight between them, and quickly opened the door and darted inside. To the man chasing him, it would seem as though he had vanished. There were too many crypts around to guess out of hand where he had gone, and it was too dark to see properly. With and little bit of luck, he was now safe.

He listened at the door. Footsteps thundered past outside, then stopped. There was a slight rustling of feet shuffling on grass. Eventually the mod soul heard a muttered curse word, and the footsteps receded.

He sighed in relief. What was with these people in Sunnydale? Did humans develop their own supernatural powers when the soul society wasn't looking? Or did the soul society just not care enough about their modified souls to give them all the information they needed? Probably the latter, now that he thought about it.

A familiar, inhuman growl sounded behind him, causing his blood to run cold.

 _What? No. No, not again!_

Slowly, he turned around…

* * *

Angel stalked through the graveyard, all his senses on high alert a he searched for Buffy's impostor. It had been easy enough to tell the difference. Her scent, her speech, everything had been off. Whoever or whatever it really was, it clearly weren't very experienced at impersonating their victims.

He stopped suddenly. The scent of blood was in the air. Human blood. Following his nose, he turned and ran towards the source of the pungent smell. Soon, he heard fighting. His eyes imbued with nightvision, he caught flashes of red within the gloom. The impostor was hurt, fighting another handful of vampires in utter bewilderment and terror. Blood dripped from an open gash in its side. It backed away from it's attackers, glancing left and right for an escape route like a cornered rabbit. It must have stumbled on a vampire nest in its haste to get away. Two vampires approached, but Buffy's doppelganger was ready for them. It jumped and kicked out at the head of the closest, before landing again and sweeping the legs out from underneath the second. It then sprang backwards, ready for whatever came next.

Whatever it was, it could fight. It might have taken a while for it to become accustomed to fighting a being with superior reflexes such as a vampire, but the it was learning. However, there were at least five or six vampires there, ready for the kill. Even Angel himself might have have a difficult time on his own against so many. If it was inside Buffy's real body and not just a copy, things could get bad fast if he didn't help.

Angel ran forwards, tackling a vampire before it had the chance to charge. The Buffy imposter's eyes widened in alarm as they focused on Angel.

"Damn it!" It swore briefly before it was forced into a defensive stance by another vampire. "Why couldn't you just leave me alone!" He shouted as he fought.

"What? I'm _helping_ you!"

"Yeah? Well… I don't need help!"

"Against six vampires? Right. Sure, you don't."

The false Buffy paused, mid fight. "Wha- vampires? What are y-?" Its hesitation cost him by a heavy blow to its face.

Angel took a couple of wooden stakes out of his pocket, and tossed one to the impostor. "Here. Aim for the heart."

The impostor caught the stake as it sailed through the air. "You… you're really not kidding, are you?" It said.

Angel cast It a sideways glance as he dusted two vampires in quick succession. "I would have thought all demons knew about vampires."

"Demon? Hey! Who are you calling a demon?" It said angrily. It drove the stake into the chest of its adversary, and stared in fascination as it crumbled into dust. "Wow… that's pretty cool."

...

It took only a while longer for the pair to finish off the remainder if the vampires. Angel stood back and watched as the imposter Buffy slowly leaned back against a tombstone, panting, clutching its injured side.

"Ow, ow, ow." It muttered, lowering itself to the ground.

"If that's Buffy's real body, you're in a lot of trouble." Angel stated, pointing to the pool of blood.

It chuckled bitterly. "I'm in a lot of trouble either way. If I get caught, I die." It turned its eyes up to look at Angel, half pleading and half accusing. "Come on, you wouldn't send me back to my death, would you?"

"Death? If you're really not a demon then you don't need to worry about that. Buffy'll be angry at the body stealing and everything of course, but she wouldn't kill you."

"Maybe she wouldn't. But the other one would, the real soul reaper."

"You mean Rukia?" Angel asked, sitting down beside… whatever it was.

"She's from the soul society. Of course she would."

"But why? What are you?"

"You don't know? I'm a mod soul. Made in a lab in the Soul Society, created alongside hundreds of others to act as cannon fodder against the hollows. Only the soul reapers changed their mind. Decided the whole thing was unethical… and ordered the destruction of my entire kind. Every mod soul was to be destroyed."

Angel's eyes widened. "That's genocide."

The mod soul shrugged. "They didn't see anything wrong with it. We weren't 'real'. We weren't alive. Just weapons, tools."

"They didn't get to you. What happened?"

"I hid among the others, the artificial souls not created for combat. They never realised. Never found me."

"Wait, so how did you get Buffy's body? Where's yours?"

"Huh? What kind of question is that? Don't you know anything about artificial souls?"

"Er- Well, no. I only became aware of the soul society recently, it's a very long story. I don't really know anything about it."

The mod soul sighed. "Geez. Look, artificial souls don't have a real body of our own. Our physical form is basically a small green pill. Put that in in a body, the inhabitant's soul gets pushed out and I take over."

"I see. Buffy thought you were one of those, ah, normal souls, then?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not going to let you run about in Buffy's body and get it all torn up. I promise, we won't let anyone hurt you. We'll protect you, but only if you come back."

The mod soul paused, thinking. It looked down at it's hands. "I guess I don't really have much choice. Besides, this body is uncomfortable to be in. I suppose it would be a relief to leave, even for a bit."

"Uncomfortable? What do you mean by that?"

"Oh. Er. Didn't I mention? I wasn't exactly… made to fit in… this type of body." It said, grinning nervously.

"What do you mean, 'that type of body'?"

"Um. Female?"

Angel's face froze as he took in this information.

 _Oh._

He stood up, and hauled the mod soul to his feet. "We are going back right now, and we are getting you out of Buffy's body. _Right. Now._ "

"Ow, watch the arm! Ouch!" The mod soul complained, scowling.

" _Hold it_!" A voice shouted. Buffy ran towards them, red-faced with rage. Angel let go of the mod soul's arm and took a step away as Buffy approached and grabbed the mod soul by his collar.

"You son of a bitch! Run around in my body, will you? Go macking on my _best friend,_ will you? Sorry, mister! My body is not up for rental!" She growled, shaking him.

"Hey, hey! He- he promised I wouldn't get hurt!" He shouted, pointing at Angel. "He said that y- ouch!" He winced in pain.

Buffy looked down and saw the wound in his stomach. "Oh my god... how careless are you? You jerk! That's my body you've smashed up!" She said, punching him full across the face and sending him flying backwards.

Angel stepped forwards. "Buffy, don't add to your own injuries." He said, gently laying a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't bruise easily. It'll hurt him more than me." She mumbled.

"Look, he's not a big bad, okay Buffy? He's just scared. Listen, he's-"

"A mod soul, I know." Buffy said. She strode forwards to where the mod soul had fallen, and grasped him by the collar again.

"Listen to me. I know about what happened to you. It was wrong. It was horrible, and I swear I'm not gonna let the soul society lay a single hand on you! But! If you ever try to steal my body again, then prepare for the biggest damn beat down of your life. Got that?"

"Y-yes ma'am! Understood!" He stuttered, saluting.

Buffy regarded him suspiciously for a moment, then released him. She sighed. "Thanks to your antics, as far as the school's concerned I've been absent all day. Mom's only going to give me so many free passes for slayer work, and she still doesn't fully trust me after I ran off to L.A. Come on, then. Let's go find Rukia and get you out of my body. She should be around somewhere."

"So, what then? I get to sit on your shelf as a helpless inanimate object, just waiting to get crushed?"

"I told you, I won't let you get hurt. As far as finding you a body, I'm sure we can work something out-"

She was distracted as a small green pill appeared as if from nowhere and flew into her face. She jumped backwards, only just managing to catch it.

"What?" She gasped, startled. In front if her, the empty body pitched forwards and fell down, revealing a man standing behind it.

Buffy stared into the face of Kisuke Urahara. He was holding up his cane, on the end of which was a similar skull pattern to that on Rukia's glove.

"Hello again Miss Summers! Fancy seeing you here." He said in his usual grating cheerful voice. "Sorry about the mix up. We had no idea that a mod soul had found it's way into the merchandise."

Buffy did a double take. "You? You're… oh, for heaven's sake, Rukia got the mod soul from _you_?"

"You sound disappointed. I'm hurt." He held out his hand. "The soul, if you will."

Buffy stepped backwards. "Why? What do you want it for?"

"I sold my customer faulty goods! I can't leave such such a mistake to stand uncorrected."

"I mean what are you going to do with it?"

"Destroy it, of course."

Blood pounded through Buffy's head and her face flushed with rage. Angel stepped forwards.

"Not gonna happen. We're not going to let you kill an innocent-"

"Innocent?" Urahara said, rounding on the vampire. "My my, you have changed you tune, haven't you? Look at you, defender of the 'innocent'."

Buffy glanced between them in surprise. "Wait... have you two met before? Do you know each other?"

"He didn't tell you? How interesting." Kisuke said.

Buffy turned to Angel. "Angel? What is this?"

"It was a very long time ago Buffy."

"Have you been hiding this from me?"

"Not 'hiding'. It's just... not relevant. That's all."

Urahara stepped forwards again. "I would love to watch to see how this all unfolds, but I'm afraid I have a store to run. So, if I could have the-"

"No!" Both Buffy and Angel exclaimed at the same time.

"Urahara!" Called Rukia, walking towards them across the graveyard. "What's this? Do you normally take back items from your customers without giving them a refund?"

Urahara looked slightly startled. "I… well, yes, I suppose I could give you a refund."

"But there's no need." Rukia took the pill from Buffy. "I'm happy with my purchase."

"Oh. Really?"

"You aren't really part of the soul society either, are you?" Said Angel. "Or at least, you haven't been for some time. Why should you care if he gets destroyed or not?"

Urahara chuckled. "True. True." He conceded. "Well, that's all a little bit disappointing. It seems I came all the way out here for nothing, although it is always a pleasure to meet you, Buffy. I suppose I should get going."

"Yes. You should." Buffy relied, gazing coldly at him.

Urahara nodded briefly at them before turning and sweeping away.

As soon as he was gone, Buffy turned to Angel. "How do you know him?" She demanded.

"Buffy, it's really not important."

"It might be! I need to know what your history is with him!" She gazed into Angel's eyes. "Angel, please."

Angel to a breath. "Okay. Look, I only met him once or twice. It was about about a century ago, before I got my soul back. Well… actually, he was the reason I got my soul back."

"What? I thought that was a gypsy curse."

"The gypsys had created a sort of... framework for the spell long before, but they had never got it to work. Think about it, if this spell has been around for so long, why aren't there any other records of a vampire with a soul? Urahara was there when I killed the gypsy girl. He filled in the blanks for them, he was the one who originally got the spell to work."

"So he knew you as Angelus?"

"Yes. I even fought him once, actually. I don't remember the fight too well, but I do remember I got my ass kicked. He stuck around for long enough to make sure the spell actually worked, then I just never saw him again. That's all there is to it, I swear."

"Okay." Buffy replied quietly. "Next time we meet someone who had such such a big impact on your past, just tell me, okay? Promise?"

"Promise."

Buffy smiled in relief. She turned, walked back to her body and knelt down beside it. As she let her essence seep back inside, she spoke to the others. "Right. Rukia and I should head home now. It's getting quite late, and I seems I don't have to worry much about slaying this evening since you took such go care of- OW! Oh, god!" She exclaimed, pain radiating from the gash in her side.

Rukia jumped forwards. "Hey, are you okay there?"

"Yeah, yeah fine. Was just a shock. Argh… I am going to kill that mod soul! How could he be so careless?"

Rukia examined the wound. "You'll be fine. It's not deep enough to have caused any serious damage. You might want to take it easy for a while, though."

"She's right, Buffy. Don't push yourself."

"Sure, whatever. I'll call Willow and Xander, let them know everything worked out fine. Would really like to give that mod soul a good talking to, though. We can't keep calling him 'mod soul'. He needs a proper name."

"Have something in mind?"

"I dunno. Something short. Unusual. Like… Kon? How's Kon?"

Angel raised his eyebrows. "Is that a real name?"

"It is now. Kon it is."

Rukia gazed at the pill. "He'd probably to be in a real body before he can hear us. I don't know if you'd want to trust him with someone's, but maybe I can get a spare gigai..."

"Real body? Would it have to be…? Angel muttered thoughtfully. "Do you think…? No, probably not."

"What is it?"

"I... think I have an idea."

* * *

It was about nine in the evening when Joyce finally heard the doorbell ring. She sighed in relief and headed downstairs towards it. She always got scared whenever Buffy came home late, especially since learning about her slayer destiny. She opened the door, and sure enough Buffy was standing there.

"Hi, mom!"

"Buffy! It's a bit late, isn't it? Even for… what's that?" Joyce said, frowning at the muffled shouting. She couldn't pinpoint where exactly it was, but it seemed to be coming from inside Buffy's bag.

Buffy smiled innocently. "Oh, don't worry about it!" She said, stepping inside. "By the way, if you hear someone screaming inside a locked cupboard in my room, just ignore it. No matter how much he pleads. Just let it be. Okay?"

Buffy's bag started to unzip from the inside. A small, yellow paw emerged. "Can't… breathe... In there. No air. Help!"

Buffy violently stuffed it back inside and zipped the bag shut again.

Joyce stared in shock. "Um. Buffy?"

"Slayer stuff. Everything's fine!" She skipped upstairs.

"Goodnight, Mom! Don't let the vampires bite!"


	12. Heritage

Chapter 12: Heritage

* * *

A few weeks passed. Despite the hectic beginning, the gang gradually began to settle down into a consistent rhythm. Buffy was now no longer the only one among them with the power to fight off demons and hollows (although she remained the strongest by far), and so the other three would occasionally go in her place to clean the neighborhood of hollows. Their powers were still new and unstable, but each of them had just enough control to handle themselves.  
Giles continued his work on translating the old volume that Buffy had acquired, although his efforts had been severely hampered once he had been relieved of his position as Buffy's watcher after a severe disagreement with the council about their treatment of her. Progress was slow yet steady, with Willow pitching in to lend her computer expertise to the transaction process. Having been let out of the cupboard, Kon spent much of his time around the library in the form of Buffy's small stuffed pig 'Mr Gordo', never failing to seriously irritate whoever happened to be in the same room as him at the time.

At the moment, this happened to be Giles and Xander, both of whom were busy with research. Kon climbed on top of the old, dusty book and stared down at the pages uncomprehendingly.

"Hm. What's all these squiggles, then?"

Giles grit his teeth in frustration. He had been examining the book carefully, but could not see the pages with Kon sitting on top of them. "These are ancient journals, written in a prehistoric dialect."

"Sounds... boring. why bother with all this old stuff?"

" _Because_ studying this 'old stuff' is what helps us keep the world from being destroyed." Giles replied, lifting a protesting Kon off the book and setting him down on a different corner of the table. "I don't know why Buffy let you stay in here last night. Seems downright irresponsible if you ask me."

"I can take care of myself, I'll have you know!"

"I wasn't worried about you, I was worried about my books!"

Xander slammed his book shut in frustration. "Can you two keep it down? I'm trying my very best to actually find something that can help us with this damn translation, and you aren't making it any less boring!"

"Hey!" Willow called, walking in. "So, how's it going?"

Kon jumped up and ran over. "Willow! Giles and Xander are being mean to me!"

"Aw, were you annoying them with your being you again?" She said, smiling.

Kon folded his arms angrily and walked away, muttering. "Oh, that's right. Be sarcastic. Mock me. It's not as if I... they think they're so much better than…"

"You know, he kind of reminds me of that possessed ventriloquist doll we met two years ago." Willow said when he had walked out of earshot.

Xander nodded. "Only more annoying. Not quite as creepy, but definitely more annoying."

Willow sat down at the library computer. "Hey, Giles, I found something that might help us with that translation thing."

Giles' head shot up so fast his glasses tilted and fell off. As he scrambled to retrieve them, he said, "You do? What is it?"

"There's this website I found, it has some sort of database of old languages. There's nothing that fits exactly, but if we cross reference with that book we found the other day, there's a decent chance we might be able to start finding some possible matches."

Xander sighed in relief. "Thank god! It's been three weeks and we've barely made any progress at all! How confident are you about this?"

"Um. To be honest, not very. It's about fifty - fifty at best, but hey, it's worth a shot."

Giles examined the screen. "Yes… yes, I'd say it is. Interesting idea. Let's try it." He went over to the table and began sorting through the books again.

"Where's Rukia? And Buffy?" Xander asked.

Willow glanced up at him briefly before returning her gaze to the screen. "Buffy'll be here soon. I haven't seen Rukia yet today, though."

"Do you think she's okay?" Asked Giles. "She hasn't been very attentive recently at all. Even when she's been in, she always seems a bit distracted."

"I don't know. I hope so."

"Yeah." Xander said, staring at the floor.

Giles flicked through the pages of the book. "It will take a while to get this all sorted." He muttered. "I tell you what, Willow. You leave this with me and I'll see if I can get it to work. Check back in tomorrow."

"You sure? I could stay to help."

"No, no, let me handle it."

There was a rustle, then a bang as a smattering of books fell to the floor somewhere behind the shelves, followed by a muffled "Ow!"

Giles groaned. "Oh, bloody hell. Take Kon with you, would you? I can't stand another minute of his antics."

" _I can hear you!_ "

Willow grinned. "Yeah, okay. We'll go find Buffy, see what's up." She raised her voice. "Hey, Kon! You coming?"

"Huh? Oh, sure! Give me… one second..." There was a few more rumbles and bangs, then eventually Kon tottered around the corner, looking fairly dazed. "I'm… ow… here…"

"How fared your battle against the mighty book shelves?" Xander asked mockingly.

Kon glared at him. "Hey, I was trying to read something. It was stuck, so-"

"So you had to destroy half my library in the process?" Giles inquired.

"Oh, the books are fine, okay? I'm the one that got hurt! A little more sympathy for the stuffed piglet, please?"

Willow picked him up and put him in her bag. "We're gonna find Buffy. You need to play the inanimate stuffed animal again while we walk around."

* * *

As they left the library, Xander walked straight into Rukia.

"Oof! Oh, Rukia! There you are!" Xander exclaimed, rubbing his bruised arm.

"Oh, Xander, Willow…" She remarked, blinking in surprise.

"Hey. You doing okay?" Willow asked with warm smile.

Before Rukia could reply, Willow's bag rustled and Kon sprang out. "Big Sis!" He cried gleefully. He had become very attached to the soul reaper despite her mild distaste for him.

Xander snatched the mod soul out of the air and quickly stuffed him back inside. He nodded calmly at a few shocked passers - by. "Uh… heh, just practicing for a puppet show. Pretty good, eh?" He grinned nervously.

Willow held the bag shut as Kon struggled inside. "Come on, we talked about this! No moving where other people can see, 'kay?" She whispered urgently.

"Is everything all right?" Rukia asked.

"Yeah. Actually, that was kinda something I wanted to ask you." Xander replied.

A slight frown creased Rukia's brow. "What do you mean?"

"You just haven't been around much recently. Is there something wrong?"

"What? No! Nothing's wrong. Just been a bit tired, that's all. Sorry to have worried you."

"We were just going to find Buffy. Wanna come?" Willow asked.

"No, thanks. I've got some work to do."

Xander swallowed. "Er- actually I want to talk to you, if that's okay." He glanced sideways at Willow.

Willow's eyes widened. "Oh, um, in that case Kon and I will go find Buffy. Don't want her to be alone in case of.. um, exam demons. That make her answer math questions. I'd probably be able to help with that. If it happened." She hurried off.

"So, got any of your powers back yet? It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Still nothing. It has been a long time. Very long. I'm not sure why-"

"I guess that means you'll be around for a while. That's great! Well, maybe not for you, I suppose you're feeling a bit homesick. Are you? Missing home?"

Rukia seemed to think for a second. "Um… a bit. There wasn't a lot to my life apart from my Soul Reaper duties, but I did… do have some friends back there. Not many, but enough."

"Well, while you're here…" He glanced around nervously, and took a deep breath. "Say. Er. Do they have coffee shops in the soul society?"

Rukia blinked. "I… well, there are shops. It really depends which district you're in, some are better than others."

"Well, you see, here there's a sort of tradition. If one person likes another person, they might ask them out to have coffee. Or something nice, like that. Y'know, relaxing. Something not involving demons and death for once. Er… I was kinda wondering if that sounded like something... you might be okay with."

Rukia's eyes slowly widened as understanding dawned. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Well, I don't have to be! I mean, yeah, but if that's… I just… I like you. I think you're smart, and strong, and I'd like to get to know you better. So how about it? Coffee?" He said hopefully.

Rukia paused. She seemed slightly saddened. She glanced away. "Thanks, but I don't think so."

"Oh." Xander said quietly, but Rukia's soft words had hit him like a hammer. It really was him just crushing on Buffy all over again. "Well... why?"

"It wouldn't ever work. There's no point."

Xander scoffed. "Oh! No _point_ , is there? Wow, that… that's kinda sad. And hurtful. And not an actual reason, while we're there."

"Xander…" Rukia watched him with concern. She looked away for a moment, then seemed to make up her mind about something. When she looked back, her face was cold and her eyes were harsh. "Do you know who I am, over there? In the soul society?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I am from the Kuchiki family. I am a noble, with a hundred years more experience than you. Do you really think I could ever lower myself to be with someone of your station?"

Xander's mouth fell open in shock at her sudden change in demeanor. "Rukia? What are you saying?"

"Did you not hear me? I thought I made myself clear. My answer is no, Xander."

Xander shook his head in disbelief, more angry than hurt now. "Wow. You think 'being with someone like me' is shameful to you? Well, maybe. I'm not exactly Xander the great or anything. But let me tell you, what you said just there? Now _that_ was low." He said before turning and stalking away.

Rukia watched him go, a melancholy expression returning to her face. After he had stormed out of sight, she turned and entered the library.

* * *

Later that evening, Xander met up with Willow, Oz and Buffy at the bronze. He strolled through the doors and pushed gently past the crowd of enthusiastic dancers to reach the tables. As he emerged on the other side of the dance floor, he spied the other three crowded around a small table. Willow was the first to see him approach, and gave him a cheerful wave.

"Hey, Xander! Missed you after school, where'd you go?"

Xander gave a humorless smile. "Oh, you know. Just away."

Willow faltered, taken aback at his terse attitude.

Buffy frowned. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Xander sat down. "Well… Rukia blew me off. In a really bad way. Like, it might have been preferable to have been stabbed."

"Geez. What did she say?"

"I dunno, something about being a noble and me being 'beneath her'. It's not really an experience I want to relive."

"That doesn't sound like her. Sure it wasn't Cordelia in disguise?"

"Heh. I wish it was. You know what? I'm gonna go grab a drink." Xander replied, standing up again and walking away to the bar.

The others watched him go with concern.

"It sucks that Rukia shot him down. Think he'll be okay?" Oz asked.

Willow smiled sadly. "It don't know. I haven't seen him like that since Buffy turned him down."

Buffy's head shot up, her eyes wide. "He took it that badly?" She said.

"Oh… Er, don't worry. He was fine."

Oz shook his head. "Well, hopefully something big and evil will show up soon and take his mind off it."

"Hey, be careful what you wish for. Knowing this place it might actually happen." Buffy chided him. "I'd be much happier if we could finally work out what's written in that damn book."

Willow nodded. "The Watchers Council are jerks for kicking out Giles."

"The Watchers Council are jerks for a lot of reasons. Nearly killing me last week being near the top of the list."

Kon jumped up onto the table. "Yeah, those watcher guys are mean! Remember when they called me a demon and tried to take me away?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Remind me again why I didn't let them?"

"Aw, c'mon, don't say that!" Kon protested. "Y'know, I'm alive just like any of you. I have rights! I shouldn't have to put up with this treatment!"

Xander walked up behind them, a cup in his hand. "Hey fuzzball, move out of the way." He said, pushing Kon to one side and putting down his drink. As he sat down, he said, "So, anything exiting going on? Anything at all?"

"Not really. Same old, same old. I'm going patrolling tonight, though. Wanna come, Xander? Take your mind off things?"

"Eh, yeah, why not? Could do with honing my Quincy skills."

"Just don't aim anywhere near me, please. Last time we went out slaying you nearly shot Oz."

"Er, ha, yeah. I did, didn't I? Sorry again, man." Xander nodded apologetically towards Oz.

Willow said, "You still haven't talked to your dad yet, have you? About the Quincy stuff?"

Xander shuffled uncomfortably. "Well... no…"

"I really think you should, Xander. It'd be good! He might even have some advice for you about it." Buffy smiled encouragingly. "Tell you what. After we're done here, you go home and talk to him. The meet me at the graveyard and tell me what he said, okay?"

"…Okay, sure." Xander said reluctantly. "I'll talk to him, Damn it."

* * *

They stayed at the Bronze for a while longer, but as the evening drew on they eventually departed.

Buffy briefly went home to drop off Kon at the doorstep before running off to the graveyard again. After a exhausting couple of minutes while Kon tried in vain to jump high enough to reach the doorbell, he gave up and instead walked around the back of the house and scurried up the drainpipe to Buffy's room. He heaved himself onto the windowsill, and was just about to squeeze through the small gap when he caught sight of Rukia inside, sitting at Buffy's desk and writing a note.

 _Big Sis!_

He was about to leap jovially inside, but stopped himself. Rukia had a packed bag sitting on the bed, and the wardrobe in which she had made herself a place to sleep was now bare. There was something wrong. As he watched, Rukia stopped writing and folded the note in half, scribbling Buffy's name on the cover. She proceeded to get up, and after a second of hesitation, she picked up her bag and quietly crept out of the room.

Kon paused for a second. What was going on? Was everything okay? He crawled inside and jumped onto the desk. He curiously regarded the letter that Rukia had left. Buffy would probably get angry with him if she knew he had been reading her letters again, but this was different. He would just have a quick peek, just to make sure there was nothing he needed to know about…

* * *

Xander paused outside the front door, and sighed. How the hell was he supposed to bring this up? How was he supposed to just walk inside, and say _'Hi, dad. By the way, how long have you been a able to shoot magical blue arrows that kill demons? Oh, and I hope you're not too drunk to understand what I'm talking about.'_

Gritting his teeth, he pushed open the door and went inside. He found his way to the living room, where his father was reclining on the sofa in front of the television with a beer bottle in hand.

"Er, dad?" Xander ventured.

Without turning, Anthony Harris raised a hand. "Sh. Not now."

"Dad, there's something I need to ask you about."

"Christ, Xand, Can't it wait? Later."

"Dad!" Xander snapped, temper rising. He stormed round in front of the sofa and held up the bracelet, which seemed to be the source of his powers. "Quincys. Us. I want to know."

Anthony paused, his eyes focusing on the small cross. After a second he raised a tired hand to his temple.

"…Christ…" He muttered. With his other hand he dropped the beer bottle and reached for the remote to turn off the television. "Kinda hoped you'd leave me out of it, kid. I didn't really want to get mixed up in all this."

"All what? What do you know?"

"More than you. What about you, then? What do you know of _'the fabled Quincy's'?_ " He spat out the words with a surprising level of bitterness.

"Er. Well… we have cool glowing blue bows, I guess. I think the hat guy mentioned something about the Quincys and the soul reapers having a bit of a disagreement, and-"

"Hah! A 'disagreement'? Typical diplomatic Soul Reaper crap. Don't let 'em fool you, kid. There was no debate or argument or nothing like that."

"Huh?"

"Yeah. I'm not too keen on the details; all this shit went down long before me. But I do know that the dammed reapers all but massacred our dear old ancestors." He growled. After a second of silence he stood up. "I'm going to get another drink…" He mumbled, glaring at the empty bottle on the floor and moving away to the kitchen.

Xander followed. "Wait… what? Why would they kill the Quincys?"

"I don't know, and by this point I don't really care. Ask them yourself if you're so keen. The way I hear it, you're buddies with three of those bastards."

"Woah, Woah, back up there. What does that mean?"

"Y'know. The blondie, the small one, and that Urahara."

Xander jumped in surprise when he heard his father mention Kisuke Urahara. "You _know_ about him? Wha…and he's a soul reaper?"

Anthony Harris sighed. "For God's sake, kid, keep up! Why d'you think I gave you that trinket in the first place?" He said in exasperation, pointing at the cross on Xander's wrist. "Your friend in the green coat paid me a visit a couple of weeks ago, gave me a little heads up on all the shit that was about to go down. Nearly blasted the guy's head off when I realized what he was, but it turns out I'm way out of practice. Couldn't even get the damn bow to show up... He was right though; it's better for you to have it. You, somehow, know how to use the thing, and besides, you got the whole 'protect the town from demons' gig to look after, don't you?"

Xander shook his head in bewilderment. "You… you know… about demons? For how long?"

"I've always known, me and your mother both. Think it's a coincidence, the last of the Quincys living right on top of the hellmouth? The hellmouth's the only place our kind can hide. Here there's too much other mystical shite going on for anyone to tell we're here. It probably doesn't matter anymore, though. It's been ages since the Quincy/Soul Reaper war, and we're so few in number now that I doubt the soul society even cares about us anymore."

"If all this happened so long ago, who taught you about it? How did you know?"

"It was your grandma. She was damn near fanatical about the whole thing, she was. Very keen on keeping tradition alive or some shit like that…"

"Well…when were you going to tell me?"

Anthony gazed at his son somewhat coldly. "Truth be told, I wasn't. My ma and those before her were all pretty keen that we kept fighting the Hollows no matter what. I call all that bullshit. The Reapers were the ones who decided they didn't want our help, they can damn well deal with things on their own. The more fighting we do will just call more attention to ourselves, and we won't make a bloody dent in the Hollows' numbers anyway. The Quincys were done years ago. There's no point pretending otherwise." He picked up another bottle and pushed his way past his son, who was staring at the ground. "Here endeth the lesson." He muttered as he left the room.


End file.
